Evidence of slant in ABC NEWS article Chicago Voter Database Hacked

Articles like Chicago Voter Database Hacked by ABC NEWS Jake Tapper and Rebecca Abrahams, October 23, 2006 make me cringe. These types of articles are the reason Net the Truth Online is here and persists in the search for truth, no matter what the truth reveals.

The ABC NEWS title of the piece is just wrong as reading further into the Tapper/Abrahams article clearly shows. The Chicago voter database was not hacked, according to Tom Leach, what was hacked into was the website file which is a "copy" file, not the original file.

Most readers won't read beyond the initial couple of paragraphs of most articles, and mostly what will stick in their minds is the title.

Fox News Live's E.D. Hill is interviewing Bob Wilson (Illinois Ballot Integrity Project) at 10:30 a.m.

E.D. HILL ... an organization found out more than one million voters in a Chicago voter database could be hacked, says E.D. Hill... we're concerned... (there is a bad connection with Wilson and Hill says they will return to him.)

Fox News Live Ticker tape reads
security gltitch found in Chicago Voter Database!

We're on our way to set the record straight. Done on the submit News form. More.

Check electionline.org for this date and weekly report recap

Election Reform news this week:
Election officials in Chicago were forced to patch a security flaw in their Web site this week after a candidate discovered a programming error that made private voter information vulnerable to theft. The information has been available for at least five years. “We don’t have any evidence that there was any theft,” Tom Leach, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections told the Chicago Tribune. “But we don’t want to be in a position where someone has their Social Security and date of birth stolen.” The error was fixed late last week and the Cook County state’s attorney was informed about the potential for identity theft. Leach told the paper that the Board of Elections plans to hire a computer forensics expert to determine if personal information was stolen.

electionline.org

Illinois
Voter information open to hackers


After tracking the story, Net the Truth Online must also question who found the "programming error," "security flaw."?

Was it a candidate for election as noted in the Chicago Tribune's October 24, 2006 report Voter security glitch fixed by John McCormick

Chicago election officials said Monday they were forced to patch a security flaw on their Web site after a candidate found a programming error that had made private voter information vulnerable to theft for at least five years.

and as identified (Peter Zelchenko, a 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate and computer expert)in the Chicago Sun-Times October 24, 2006 report Hack Cracked Board of Elections Web site leaves Social Security numbers vulnerable by Art Golab

The glitch was pointed out to the Sun-Times by Peter Zelchenko, a 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate and computer expert, who also informed the board of the problem Friday.

or

Was it the not-for-profit civic organization, Illinois Ballot Integrity Project

as noted in

ABC7Chicago Apparent security flaw in board of elections website Not-for-profit group claims it accessed sensitive voter info by John Garcia

ABC NEWS Chicago Voter Database Hacked Civic Group Claims It Could Have Tampered With Voter Roles, by Jake Tapper and Rebecca Abrahams?

AP (Boston Herald) Watchdog group finds security flaw in Chicago elections Web site, Associated Press, Tuesday October 24, 2006

And who is responsible for the misspelling of the word "rolls" in the ABC NEWS subtitle?

Meanwhile, versions of the same news which are dramatically more accurate in titles than ABC NEWS Spin Cycle Headline:

ABC7Chicago

Apparent security flaw in board of elections website Not-for-profit group claims it accessed sensitive voter info by John Garcia

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4688529

Chicago Tribune

Voter security glitch fixed by John McCormick

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0610240029oct24,1,1602608.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Chicago Sun Times

Hack Cracked Board of Elections Web site leaves Social Security numbers vulnerable by Art Golab

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/108366,CST-NWS-hack24.article

AP Report Boston Herald

Watchdog group finds security flaw in Chicago elections Web site
By Associated Press Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - Updated: 09:40 AM EST

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=163915

Notice the difference? It's more accurate to refer to "election website" than to "voter database."

A total so far of four other articles use more accurate headliners.

COMPARE THE ARTICLES WHICH FOLLOW and track the hype which will flow from the ABC NEWS Spin Cycle Headline

Note: 11:10 a.m. FOX NEWS LIVE E.D. Hill report did not include a retake with Illinois Ballot Integrity Project's Bob Wilson. Instead, Hill appeared to alter the wording from database of voters... to more general terminology, and appeared to have either spoken to Illinois and Chicago election officials directly, or, maybe, just maybe they received our email.

ABC7Chicago

Apparent security flaw in board of elections website Not-for-profit group claims it accessed sensitive voter info by John Garcia

October 23, 2006 - There is an apparent security flaw in the computers that contain personal information on hundreds of thousands of voters in Chicago. A non-partisan organization claims it gained access to sensitive personal information including Social Security numbers.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4688529

Associated Press (Boston Herald)

Watchdog group finds security flaw in Chicago elections Web site
By Associated Press Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - Updated: 09:40 AM EST

CHICAGO - The city is investigating a security glitch in its elections Web site that hackers could have used to swipe Social Security numbers and the personal information of about 1.3 million voters, officials said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone actually stole or misused any of the information, Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Tom Leach said.

He said the problem had been fixed and a forensic computer expert would be brought in to examine the site’s logs for any signs of illegal access.

“Obviously, we are very concerned,” Leach said Monday. “We have no reason to believe there was (theft), but we want to be able to assure people there wasn’t.”

A watchdog group, the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project, exposed the vulnerability and alerted officials last week, Leach said...

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=163915

Chicago Sun Times

Hack cracked Board of Elections Web site leaves Social Security numbers vulnerable
October 24, 2006 by ART GOLAB Staff Reporter

For at least the last six years, a loophole in the Chicago Board of Elections Web site has exposed the Social Security numbers and birth dates of more than 1 million registered voters to anyone with a computer, a Web connection and rudimentary programming knowledge.

Until Saturday, this data -- all that is necessary for an identity thief to apply for a credit card, mortgage or even acquire an arrest record in someone else's name -- has been available through a Web site intended to tell voters their registration status.

The glitch was pointed out to the Sun-Times by Peter Zelchenko, a 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate and computer expert, who also informed the board of the problem Friday.

The board immediately closed the loophole, and board chairman Langdon Neal ordered his staff Monday to hire an outside forensic computer consultant to "look at the security of the system and also look at computer logs to determine if there has been any hacking or wholesale downloading," according to board spokesman Tom Leach...

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/108366,CST-NWS-hack24.article

Chicago Tribune

Voter security glitch fixed by John McCormick

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0610240029oct24,1,1602608.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true


ABC NEWS SPIN CYCLE

ABC NEWS Chicago Voter Database Hacked by Jake Tapper and Rebecca Abrahams

Oct. 23, 2006 — As if there weren't enough concerns about the integrity of the vote, a non-partisan civic organization today claimed it had hacked into the voter database for the 1.35 million voters in the city of Chicago.

Bob Wilson, an official with the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project — which bills itself as a not-for-profit civic organization dedicated to the correction of election system deficiencies — tells ABC News that last week his organization hacked the database, which contains detailed information about hundreds of thousands of Chicago voters, including their Social Security numbers, and dates of birth.

"It was a serious identity theft problem, but also a problem that could potentially create problems with the election," Wilson said.

A nefarious hacker could have changed every voter's status from active to inactive, which would have prevented them from voting, he said.

"Or we could've changed the information on what precinct you were in or what polling place you were supposed to go to," he said. "So there were ways that we could potentially change the entire online data base and disenfranchise voters throughout the entire city of Chicago."

"If we'd wanted to, we could've wiped the entire database out," Wilson claimed.

Tom Leach, a spokesman for the Chicago Election Board, tells ABC News that the problem seems to have arisen because the city's database allowing voters to locate their voting precinct once asked voters for detailed information such as Social Security numbers.

Approximately six years ago, Leach said, when the website was updated — requiring only name and address — city computer experts "never cut the links to the Social Security numbers and the dates of birth."

Leach said he doubted the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project could have disenfranchised voters or wiped out the database, but he and the Election Board were very concerned and had taken steps to remedy whatever problems exist, including bringing in an outside computer forensic expert to verify that the database is secure and to ensure no one had already hacked the database.

"We're also making arrangements to remove the Social Security numbers," he added, and the Election Board was also alerting law enforcement to the problem as pointed out to them.

"Even though they could hack into the Web site, they couldn't hack into the voter file," Leach said. "The Web site feeds into a copy file, not the actual original file."

...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2601085&page=1

Just what we thought would be portrayed... do they want to show you there is a difference between an official voter database and a website file?

Chicago's 43rd Ward Peter Zelchenko, candidate

Monday, October 23, 2006
Board of Elections database vulnerability
Read statement on the Board of Elections database vulnerability.

Go to Illinois Ballot Integrity Project Web site.

http://ward43.blogspot.com/

"America Alone"

Mark Steyn, C-Span guest today, author of AMERICA ALONE, received a comment from a caller that the liberal Democrats were imported from Europe, over there and are missing a reality gene concerning the War on Terror.

Steyn offered he wasn't sure about the statements by the caller, and President Bush has been thinking ahead, is being farsighted, often, those in his Administration are not.

http://www.steynonline.com/

"There's a huge market in fake IDs, coming across the Mexican border" says Steyn.

4 of Sept. 11 guys got their fake IDs that way... America still won't take illegal immigration seriously... if that won't get America going nothing will...

in the days after Sept. 11, FBI arrested about 150 Pakistanis... the effect was to drive huge amounts of Pakistanis out of the US... Thousands chose to leave to Canada, closed bank accounts because they thought they'd be frozen... so you don't have to "deport" large numbers of people to get illegal immigrants to leave...

(COMMENT: Isn't that interesting. What Steyn is saying: deport a few hundred illegal immigrants, watch the withdrawing of bank accounts across the country, and watch the census numbers go way down in 4 years!)

Steyn writes:

It's the Demography, Stupid
The real reason the West is in danger of extinction.

BY MARK STEYN
Wednesday, January 4, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

...Yet while Islamism is the enemy, it's not what this thing's about. Radical Islam is an opportunistic infection, like AIDS: It's not the HIV that kills you, it's the pneumonia you get when your body's too weak to fight it off. When the jihadists engage with the U.S. military, they lose--as they did in Afghanistan and Iraq. If this were like World War I with those fellows in one trench and us in ours facing them over some boggy piece of terrain, it would be over very quickly. Which the smarter Islamists have figured out. They know they can never win on the battlefield, but they figure there's an excellent chance they can drag things out until Western civilization collapses in on itself and Islam inherits by default.

That's what the war's about: our lack of civilizational confidence. As a famous Arnold Toynbee quote puts it: "Civilizations die from suicide, not murder"--as can be seen throughout much of "the Western world" right now. The progressive agenda--lavish social welfare, abortion, secularism, multiculturalism--is collectively the real suicide bomb. Take multiculturalism. The great thing about multiculturalism is that it doesn't involve knowing anything about other cultures--the capital of Bhutan, the principal exports of Malawi, who cares? All it requires is feeling good about other cultures. It's fundamentally a fraud, and I would argue was subliminally accepted on that basis. Most adherents to the idea that all cultures are equal don't want to live in anything but an advanced Western society. Multiculturalism means your kid has to learn some wretched native dirge for the school holiday concert instead of getting to sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" or that your holistic masseuse uses techniques developed from Native American spirituality, but not that you or anyone you care about should have to live in an African or Native American society. It's a quintessential piece of progressive humbug.

Then September 11 happened. And bizarrely the reaction of just about every prominent Western leader was to visit a mosque: President Bush did, the prince of Wales did, the prime minister of the United Kingdom did, the prime minister of Canada did . . . The premier of Ontario didn't, and so 20 Muslim community leaders had a big summit to denounce him for failing to visit a mosque. I don't know why he didn't. Maybe there was a big backlog, it was mosque drive time, prime ministers in gridlock up and down the freeway trying to get to the Sword of the Infidel-Slayer Mosque on Elm Street. But for whatever reason he couldn't fit it into his hectic schedule. Ontario's citizenship minister did show up at a mosque, but the imams took that as a great insult, like the Queen sending Fergie to open the Commonwealth Games. So the premier of Ontario had to hold a big meeting with the aggrieved imams to apologize for not going to a mosque and, as the Toronto Star's reported it, "to provide them with reassurance that the provincial government does not see them as the enemy."

Anyway, the get-me-to-the-mosque-on-time fever died down, but it set the tone for our general approach to these atrocities. The old definition of a nanosecond was the gap between the traffic light changing in New York and the first honk from a car behind. The new definition is the gap between a terrorist bombing and the press release from an Islamic lobby group warning of a backlash against Muslims. In most circumstances, it would be considered appallingly bad taste to deflect attention from an actual "hate crime" by scaremongering about a purely hypothetical one. Needless to say, there is no campaign of Islamophobic hate crimes. If anything, the West is awash in an epidemic of self-hate crimes. A commenter on Tim Blair's Web site in Australia summed it up in a note-perfect parody of a Guardian headline: "Muslim Community Leaders Warn of Backlash from Tomorrow Morning's Terrorist Attack." Those community leaders have the measure of us.

Radical Islam is what multiculturalism has been waiting for all along. In "The Survival of Culture," I quoted the eminent British barrister Helena Kennedy, Queen's Counsel. Shortly after September 11, Baroness Kennedy argued on a BBC show that it was too easy to disparage "Islamic fundamentalists." "We as Western liberals too often are fundamentalist ourselves," she complained. "We don't look at our own fundamentalisms."

Well, said the interviewer, what exactly would those Western liberal fundamentalisms be? "One of the things that we are too ready to insist upon is that we are the tolerant people and that the intolerance is something that belongs to other countries like Islam. And I'm not sure that's true."

Hmm. Lady Kennedy was arguing that our tolerance of our own tolerance is making us intolerant of other people's intolerance, which is intolerable. And, unlikely as it sounds, this has now become the highest, most rarefied form of multiculturalism. So you're nice to gays and the Inuit? Big deal. Anyone can be tolerant of fellows like that, but tolerance of intolerance gives an even more intense frisson of pleasure to the multiculti masochists. In other words, just as the AIDS pandemic greatly facilitated societal surrender to the gay agenda, so 9/11 is greatly facilitating our surrender to the most extreme aspects of the multicultural agenda.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110007760

outsourcing of U.S. jobs? When, Where, Who Knows What?

Watching the debate between Senate candidates Rick Santorum Robert Casey, Jr., first-hand, I couldn't help noticing Mr. Casey's absolutely arrogant refusal to answer a question posed to him concerning Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System's stock-investments and such investments being placed in companies which outsource PA/USA jobs.

The Post-Gazette notes the question asked, and Casey's refusal to answer this question. They also post the link to video of the debate.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06286/729698-177.stm

Granted, the (Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System )outsourcing issue isn't the only hot issue in the senatorial race between Santorum and Casey.

However, it is indicative of Casey not believing he is indeed accountable for knowing "who, what, when, where, and how" concerning millions upon millions of Pennsylvania taxpayers' monies.

Not only that, but Mr. Casey has attempted to raise the outsourcing of jobs issue against Santorum, but nothing has panned out on that front.

P-G

Both candidates were evasive to varying degrees, but Mr. Casey more so. That was partly because, at least twice, Mr. Santorum asked questions designed to trip him up -- first, he wanted to know if Mr. Casey remembered the name of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami; second, he asked Mr. Casey if he knew precisely what percentage of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System's assets is invested in companies that are notorious for outsourcing jobs (he said the answer was 25 percent).

Casey Accomplishments Touted
http://www.patreasury.org/accomplishments.htm

Investigation sought into shipyard agreement
http://www.constitutional.net/Luksik/trib-kv3.html

But no investigation about PA monies invested in firms "notorious for outsourcing jobs."

More

Rendell delivers taxpayers' monies roundabout to:

Vertex Outsourcing LLC

Fayette reaps state funding during Rendell's tenure
By Amy Zalar, Herald-Standard
10/19/2006

...The projects are mostly concentrated around Uniontown and Connellsville, but include nearly every municipality throughout the county. Fayette County's lead development agency, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, received $3.7 million for nine projects, including the largest allocation of $900,000 for a loan for Vertex Outsourcing LLC in Georges Township...

(see Herald Standard,

Workers being hired at Smithfield call center
By Tribune-Review News Service
Wednesday, June 29, 2005


Employees at NiSource Inc.'s call center in Smithfield, Fayette County, who days ago were sweating possible job losses, now will be gaining more work and workers.

Vertex Outsourcing LLC, the English company that IBM hired to operate the Smithfield call center, is looking for roughly 150 employees at its new facility, according to advertisements placed at the Pennsylvania CareerLink office in Uniontown. Vertex also is sponsoring a two-day career fair at the CareerLink Uniontown location ending today. Roughly 170 employees now work at Smithfield and are expected to become Vertex employees on July 1.

"This agreement between NiSource and IBM will mean the closing of call centers in Lexington (Ky.) and Marble Cliff (a suburb of Columbus, Ohio)," said NiSource spokesman Rob Boulware, who would not comment further.

IBM and NiSource last week announced a $1.6 billion support service contract, under which some 572 NiSource employees would join IBM or its designated subcontractor, with an additional 445 positions eliminated by year-end 2006. The deal is expected to save Merrillville, Ind.-based NiSource, the parent of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, $530 million over the life of the 10-year deal.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_348555.html

By Marsha Forys
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 25, 2005


Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell on Sunday continued his four-day trek through western Pennsylvania, doling out grants, tax credits and low-interest loans aimed at spurring the local economy and creating jobs.
The most significant announcement, according to Dave Yeager, a member of the Governor's Action Team, was one made in Smithfield, Fayette County.

There Rendell presented a check totaling $5.5 million to NiSource Inc., parent of Columbia Gas, and the third largest natural gas distribution company in the United States.

The financial package includes a $1.5 million Opportunity Grant, $500,000 in job training assistance, $1.5 million in job creation tax credits and a $2 million Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority loan.

Yeager said the development package will allow NiSource to consolidate its customer service operations from Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Massachusetts to Fayette County.

NiSource has entered into a 10-year agreement with IBM to operate the consolidated center, helping to retain 170 jobs while creating an additional 330...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_356762.html



What is not clear to the general public, the location in Smithfield, PA is in a tax-free Keystone Opportunity Zone, so the owners get out of paying most state taxes, and local property taxes, etc. for a period of some 10 to 12 to 15 years. (KOZ legislation continually changes and expands for longer periods of tax-abatement.) In addition, of course the large (taxpayers' monies) grants given to the company, and as well, low interest loans, and so forth and so on.

Fayette KOZ areas - numerous


Fayette Business Park

http://www.faypenn.org/tax_sites_detail.jsp?restrictids=Id&restrictvalues=S-2



Meanwhile...


AMC report: Offshoring computing jobs not a real threat to US economy and job situation
There has been a near-panic situation because of the outsourcing of computing positions from the US. However, according to a study published in the New York Times, this fear is largely unfounded.

http://www.blogsource.org/2006/02/amc_report_offs.html

Sad day when candidates send stand-ins to debates

Why send your spouse, brother, sister to a debate among candidates for political office when you can't attend? Doesn't make sense. By the time the stand-in is finished, attendees may change their minds about the actual candidate, possibly even wondering why the spouse, brother, sister ISN'T THE ONE RUNNING for the office!

State reps won't attend NAACP candidate forum
By Richard Robbins
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, October 16, 2006

It turns out that tonight's NAACP candidate forum will not include incumbent state representatives.
They will be in Harrisburg attending a long-planned session of the House, said state Reps. Tom Tangretti and John Pallone.

Tangretti, a Greensburg Democrat, said his office informed NAACP officials several weeks ago that members of the Westmoreland County delegation would be out of town. He said an aide asked if the forum might be postponed to another date. He said his office was told that moving the date would be impossible since Gov. Ed Rendell had agreed to come.

Tangretti said he spoke Saturday with Greensburg-Jeannette NAACP Branch president E. Jeff Holmes about the matter.

"They both had to go vote in Harrisburg. If you have to go vote, you have to go vote," said Holmes Sunday.

The forum is slated for 7 tonight at the Human Services Center, 1011 Old Salem Road, in Greensburg.

"I'd love to be there, but it conflicts with official business," said Pallone, a Democrat from New Kensington. "I can't be in two places at one time."

The forum was billed in the Tribune-Review as "the first and possibly only major gathering of candidates in Westmoreland County" before the Nov. 7 election.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/westmoreland/s_475238.html

Sending another in the place of the candidate is not the way to go. Best to look like statement-in-a-question, call-marines-murderers-of-the-innocent-without-facts, alienate-your-own-colleagues, self-promoter, spread-around-the-tax dollars-far-and-wide-just-before-the-election, John Murtha, who won't even take an hour or two to show up at a forum to debate with Diane Irey. His absence can be spun by his opponent, giving ABSCAM new meaning. By showing up at least voters won't wish he were replaced by his wife.

Irey wants debate
By Robin Acton
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, October 13, 2006

Republican nominee Diana Irey has challenged U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, to debate her on issues important to the 12th Congressional District.
"Jack Murtha is scared to debate me," Irey said, calling his refusal "a disservice to voters."

Irey, 44, of Carroll Township, Washington County, held a five-minute news conference in her Johnstown campaign office Thursday during which she attacked the incumbent's record and personal character. Although the focal point of her campaign thus far has been the war in Iraq, she insisted he owes district voters the chance to hear them debate significant issues such as taxes, immigration and Social Security.

But Murtha, 74, who has represented the district since 1974, isn't biting...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_474814.html

Rendell expected at NAACP forum
By Rich Cholodofsky
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, October 14, 2006


With just a little more than three weeks remaining until the Nov. 7 election, the first and possibly only major gathering of candidates in Westmoreland County will occur next week.
Bolstered by a planned appearance by Gov. Ed Rendell, a candidates' forum sponsored by the Greensburg-Jeannette Branch of the NAACP is expected to bring out most of the local candidates running for office next month.

The forum is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Monday at the Human Service Center, 1011 Old Salem Road, in Greensburg.

A similar event scheduled earlier this month that was sponsored by the League of Women Voters was canceled because of a lack of participation by many of the incumbents.

E. Jeff Holmes, political action chairman for the local NAACP, said Rendell's commitment to the event has attracted far greater interest in what was initially expected to be a small gathering.

"We had to move it to a larger room," Holmes said.

Organizers are still hoping Republican gubernatorial nominee Lynn Swann will attend, although they have yet to receive a commitment from his campaign. The Swann campaign on Friday did not respond to a request for comment.

Swann's lack of participation, especially in campaign events targeting African-American voters, has baffled some political observers.

"The Swann case is a little mystifying," said G. Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College. "I'm surprised he's not doing more in the African-American community. Rendell is not doing any more than what is usual for a Democratic candidate."

Most candidates running for state House seats in Westmoreland County have agreed to attend, Holmes said. Only James Casorio, D-Irwin, who is facing a challenge from Republican Joel Reiter, and Republican Pete McConnell, who is trying to unseat Democrat Ted Harhai, D-Monessen, have yet to respond to the NAACP's invitation. Reiter and Harhai are expected to attend.

Holmes said other candidates who have agreed to appear at the forum are: state Rep. Tom Tangretti, D-Greensburg, and his opponent, Republican Steve Schaefer; state Rep. John Pallone, D-New Kensington, and his GOP opponent, Scott Witon.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/westmoreland/s_475023.html

O'Reilly on 9/11 conspiracy theorists

Ranting O'Reilly, lumping 9/11 truth-seekers as conspiracy theorists based on the so-called Scholars for 9/11 Truth and in particular Kevin Barrett.

Too bad Big O can't do even minor research and when he has the "scholars" on his program, zap them with questions about their statements and research resources.

He's just solidifying the supporters of Scholars for 9/11 Truth.

Keep checking Net the Truth Online.

More finds:See Error: the Pentagon Attack Left Only a Small Impact Hole

The most common argument advanced to support the no-757-impact theory is that, on the one hand, there was almost no aircraft debris outside the Pentagon, but on the other, the hole in the building's facade was much too small to have admitted the plane into the building. The conclusion that no jetliner crashed there seems simple and inescapable when presented with certain photographs. However, analysis of the available photographs shows that the debris outside the building is difficult to quantify, and the dimensions of the impact hole (or more accurately, holes) are frequently underestimated.

Hole Dimensions

Some of the most prominent advocates of the no-757-impact theory have radically mis-characterized the dimensions of the impact "hole". Thierry Meyssan describes the hole as 15 to 17 feet wide, apparently on the basis of photographs, such as the one to the right, in which the spray from the fire suppression efforts obscures the first floor, which had far more extensive damage.

http://www.911review.com/errors/pentagon/smallhole.html

'Only A Small Plane or Missile Could Have Caused Pentagon Damage'

The idea that a small plane (rather than a 757 jetliner) crashed into the Pentagon first rose to prominence in early 2002, following the release of five frames of video from a Pentagon security camera, which appear to show a plane much smaller than a jetliner approaching the Pentagon's west wall and then exploding on impact. Photographic evidence of the attack scene seemed to corroborate the small plane theory by showing a paucity of debris on the lawn in front of the damaged facade (which showed no signs of passengers, seats, luggage, or large aircraft parts), and an entry hole that was too small to accomodate the entire profile of a 757 jetliner. Many skeptics found it difficult or impossible to reconcile such evidence with the crash of a jetliner, failing to appreciate the degree to which a high-speed crash can shred an aircraft and parcitularly one's extremities -- into small debris.

http://www.911review.com/errors/pentagon/crashdebris.html

http://www.911review.com/errors/pentagon/smallplane.html


ERROR: 'The Pentagon Attack Left No Aircraft Debris'

http://www.911review.com/errors/pentagon/nodebris.html

911Review.org and Michael Elliot

http://911research.wtc7.net/re911/adhominem.html

Attack Ads Are Good for You!
In praise of negative campaigning
Absenteeism and Hypocrisy in Pennsylvania

Like Mollohan and Michael Steele, Republican Sen. Rick Santorum has tried to turn his opponent's negative campaigning against him. He has not had much success. Santorum has faced persistent questions about whether he and his family reside in Pennsylvania, as he claims. Actually, it would be more accurate to say he has persistently ducked those questions, declaring that such matters are not worth discussing...

http://www.reason.com/0611/fe.dm.attack.shtml

Snow in New York & Detroit confirms global-warming theory reality, or hype? You decide.

The evidence speaks, but global-warming enthusiasts won't hear it, or see it with their own eyes. Now if the month of February turns out to be one degree warmer than in past years, they'll say that confirms global warming.

First Snow of Season Hits Western New York, Leaves 155,000 Without Electricity
Friday, October 13, 2006

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A rare early October snowstorm left parts of western New York blanketed with 2 feet of snow Friday morning, prompting widespread blackouts, closing schools and halting traffic.

The snow downed scores of tree limbs and toppled power lines, leaving more than 155,000 customers without electricity.

By early Friday, 14 inches of snow had been recorded at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, with reports of 2 feet elsewhere, said Tom Paone, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The snowfall was expected to continue throughout the morning, he said.

On Thursday, 8.3 inches of heavy snow set the record for the "snowiest" October day in Buffalo in the 137-year history of the weather service, said meteorologist Tom Niziol. The previous record of 6 inches was set Oct. 31, 1917.

"This is an extremely rare event for this early in the season," Niziol said.

The Buffalo Police Department received more than 3,000 calls late Thursday and about two-thirds were related to the weather, Lt. James Watkins said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,220458,00.html

via the drudge report

http://vortex.plymouth.edu/uschill.gif

SNOW BLAST, NEW YORK...Detroit sets record for its earliest snow, breaking mark set in 1909...Chicago, too...Chill Map...

Weather watch
Fastballs and ... snowballs? Frosty forecast for ALCS
Posted: Thursday October 12, 2006 8:42PM;

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/specials/playoffs/2006/10/12/alcs.weather.ap/

DETROIT (AP) -- Nick Swisher trotted out to right field and, with freak October flurries swirling at Comerica Park, plopped onto his back and began making mock snow angels.
Only for a minute, though. Shivering, the Oakland first baseman put on his ski cap and retreated to the dugout Thursday, when Detroit was hit with its earliest snowfall ever.
Welcome to baseball's winter wonderland, a.k.a. Game 3 of the AL championship series, where the forecast is calling for fastballs, curveballs and ... snowballs...
"I'm used to playing in this from when I was growing up," said Tigers leadoff man Curtis Granderson, originally from Chicago. "I have pictures from high school of us playing with jackets on in the snow. But when it is this cold and the wind is blowing, it doesn't matter if you are used to it or not, you still feel it."

Said Tigers manager Jim Leyland: "I'm sure it's going to affect both teams somewhat."

Leyland has experience in these conditions. He managed Florida in 1997 and, with many experts predicting his Marlins would become frozen fish in the World Series, they won a key game in the snow at Cleveland.

"I've been through this situation before," he said.

The Arctic blast actually seemed to provide a cute diversion for the A's. They picked through the parkas, turtlenecks, gloves and long johns -- thin and thick versions -- that equipment manager Steve Vucinich packed for the trip.

"Are we taking snowmobiles to the game tomorrow?" backup first baseman Dan Johnson joshed.
Vucinich, who's worked for the Athletics since 1968, said he didn't need to buy anything special to combat the cold.

"We had it all already," he said. "Only it's been a while since we've had to use it..."

More

Spinach E. coli Source Traced to Cattle Ranch
Thursday, October 12, 2006

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,220338,00.html

O'Reilly's opportunity-missed to debunk a 9/11 debunker already debunked

O'Reilly calls 9/11 disbeliever a nut, and unfortunately is too emotional to engage in actual truth-seeking for our benefit.

O'Reilly wouldn't even let his guest, Jim Fetzer, speak about anything.

See 'Grossly Irresponsible'
Watch the fiery debate as O'Reilly takes on 9/11 conspiracy theorist
http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/index.html

Fetzer, friend of Wisconsin instructor Kevin Barrett, according to the blipping informational stream. O'Reilly didn't note Fetzer founded Scholars for 9/11 Truth.

Fetzer tried to get a word past Bill O'Reilly on the Factor.

O'Reilly wouldn't let Fetzer speak about the poorported findings of a number of academics, around the country, on the subject of September 11, 2001.

O'Reilly dodges and deflects instead of keying in on the "facts" and statements presented on Fetzer's site.

Scholars for 9/11 Truth
http://www.st911.org/

O'Reilly just didn't want to listen to one word from Fetzer. He just bashed and badgered, so no/few words were able to be spoken.

Had O'Reilly let the man speak, Fetzer's facts would have been out there, with the potential to either be challenged, or not.

O'Reilly didn't want the "or not." So he refrained from using reason to challenge Fetzer.

He missed an opportunity, and did all of us a disservice.

See my This is Not a Conspiracy Theory
http://dirtline.tripod.com/talkacrosstown/

I focus on the facts related to the reaction of President George W. Bush upon learning from his Chief of Staff Andrew Card that a second plane had crashed on September 11, 2001 in New York - into the World Trade Center.

A couple of years ago, I called into the Honsberger Live program to respond to a question Honz asked about President George W. Bush. What could the president have done, viewers were asked.

Hons was not only disrespectful, he immediately tagged me as a Bush basher, Bush hater.

Honz was confusing the facts about President Bush's learning of the first plane crash into the World Trade Center prior to entering the second grade classroom. Honz led viewers to believe Andrew Card whispered that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center.

I tried to set the official record straight from my own research. So I do know what it is like to be summarily dismissed.

For myself, I would not join in with 9/11 scholars since the site has this statement.

The Pentagon's own videotape does not show a Boeing 757 hitting the building, as even Bill O'Reilly admitted when it was shown on "The Factor"; but at 155 feet, the plane was more than twice as long as the 71-foot Pentagon is high and should have been present and visible; it was not, which means that the building was not hit by a Boeing 757!

http://www.st911.org/

By that one listing, 9/11 scholars for truth is discredited as a reputable outfit. That line is simply not using logical thinking. A videotape may not capture everything and just because time-stamped images don't show the Boeing hitting the building doesn't mean the Boeing didn't hit the building. and oh my goodness comparing length to height, well who wrote that?

So because the Pentagon is less than double in height than the plane is long, well that proves the building was not hit by a Boeing 757?

Maybe there is more explanatory material on the Scholars for 9/11 Truth site, but it doesn't matter - that is simply shoddy and easily refuted on its face.

911 a Hoax? Scholar for 911 Truth versus American Thinker
September 18th, 2006
Editor’s Note: Following publication last Friday of J.R. Dunn’s article “Conspiracy Theories and Media Ignorance”, American Thinker received a response from one of the principal advocates of a theory debunked in that article, James H. Fetzer, Distinguished McKnight University Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota Duluth. One of the distinguished professor’s fields of expertise is listed by that university as “The assassination of JFK”.

We present Professor Fetzer’s letter in its entirety, along with a response from Mr. Dunn. Professor Fetzer was offered an opportunity for a rejoinder, but as of the time of publication Monday morning, we have not received one from him.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5865

No More Games (apparently, nmg, believes nothing about 9/11, so the site is difficult to assess)
http://nomoregames.net/index.php?page=911&subpage1=unity_card


ScholarsFor911Truth.org
The website ScholarsFor911Truth.org illustrates, perhaps better than any website, how disinformation both exploits and neutralizes some of the best work of 9/11 Truth researchers and activists. The website presents several potent assets:

The scholarly and meticulous work of members Steven Jones and David Griffin.
The impressive list of Scholars For 9/11 Truth members, including such distinguished contributors to the 9/11 Truth cause as Kevin Ryan, Don Paul, Andreas Von Buelow, Robert M. Bowman, Kevin Barrett, Ian Woods, and Victoria Ashley.
The concept of a group of scholars bringing together their expertise to challenge the government's account -- a first in the history of the 9/11 Truth Movement.
However, through the energetic spokespersonship of James Fetzer, ScholarsFor911Truth.org exploits these assets to increase its profile and thereby promote the Pentagon no-jetliner theory featured on its "Resources" page.

The association of the junk science typified by the ScholarsFor911Truth.org's resources page with the competent work of Jones and Griffin featured on the home page functions both to advance the former, and discredit the latter through association. In an essay examining ScholarsFor911Truth.org, Jim Hoffman concludes that the website may sabotage the work of Steven Jones.

http://www.911review.com/disinfo/sites.html

More
Reason's Weekly Dispatch
By Jeff A. Taylor and the Reason staff
October 3, 2006
Vol. 9, No. 40

Replaying 9/11 -- Again

Bob Woodward has kicked off another firestorm in Washington with one of his books recreating conversations no one else can exactly recall. This time, however, the story appears to breaking Woodward's way. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, claimed to be unable to recall a July 2001 meeting with former CIA chief George Tenet, but the White House has now confirmed that the meeting took place.

Woodward recalls former Tenet aide J. Cofer Black saying that the CIA was unable to get Rice's attention on fears of an impending terrorist strike to come sometime in the summer of 2001. The really good part is that this July 10, 2001 meeting did not make it into the 9/11 Commission's report (at least not in a way anybody could identify), although transcripts show that Tenet told the 9/11 commission about it and even provided the PowerPoint slides that he showed Rice that day.

There has always been a pall hanging over the 9/11 Commission's work. Many conspiracy theorists have viewed its work as stage-managed to such a degree that its conclusions are largely worthless. With this weird omission of a meeting of key intelligence principals, the tin-foil hat crowd has a whole new lease on life...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/02/AR2006100200187.html

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/15662664.htm

http://www.reason.com/re/100306.shtml

New Media Political Weapon

Exactly, and we all must put on our thinking caps and look deeper at what are purported facts presented possibly through biased reporting.

New Media A Weapon in New World Of Politics

By John F. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 6, 2006; A01
At first glance, three uproars that buffeted American politics in recent weeks have little in common.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501811_pf.html

Ballot Access in Pennsylvania

PCN TV CALL-IN TOPIC "Ballot Access" with guests Tom Martin, Russ Diamond, Carl Romanelli.

Fascinating.

The trio presents a lot of food for thought.

Get the streaming video.

The following is just a snippet, as I found Diamond's comments about the database of registered voters, SURE, extremely interesting. I have had experience with SURE, minimal, yet hands-on.

Tom Martin: ... voters should write in our names as candidates...

Russ Diamond: ... what was found with sure system way they enter in address was different from the next county over... there was no protocol from entering the data into the SURE system. When you are given only two tries to find it, you are not going to be able to find it at all."

Carl Romanelli
romanelli2006.com

PA Supreme Court to Decide Fate of the World
http://www.pacleansweep.com/oped083006.html

http://www.politicspa.com/temp/in_the_commonwealth_court_of_pen4.htm

Democrats Disenfranchise PA VotersPosted by: Blyden on Sep 05, 2006 - 08:51 PM partynews
http://www.gpofpa.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=52


Tom Martin, Libertarian candidate

Stop Turning-Over Please (STOP)

C-Span asks now: Should the Page Program be Eliminated?

Yes. Absolutely. The Page program can now be easily infiltrated by youthful plants of Democrat operatives posing as Republicans. I can see it now.

Come the November 2006 Election, Republicans manage to hang on to their slim holds in Congress and remain the majority.

George Soros forms yet another 557 organization, one that trains 15 or so young Democrats how to speak and act like a Repubican Page who accepts dicey emails from Republican representatives and senators and when he tells his parents they tell him it's no big deal, you are working for a greater cause and it's God's will anyway or it wouldn't happen to you. The really Democrat Republican Pages whose backgrounds have been fully checked by the FBI workers who were all hired by the former Democrat director of the FBI will fan out to the 15 or so remaining Republican representatives and senators who the Democrats have found by targeted opposition-research have been um, "left behind" in the wake of the Mark Foley sex-page scandal. Come the 2008 Presidential election, what pops up but emails, dvds, cell phone records, etc. from these 15 or so Republicans in Congress that the FBI missed in its massive sex-watch operations.

A nation stunned by the outing of one Republican who was really a former Democrat back in the days before he was chosen to run for public office (just check out the voter registrations and re-registrations and subsequent big donations to him from former Democrats turned Republican back then) re-register to vote in massive numbers through the combined Russ Diamond United We Clean Sweep organization and the George Soros Switch to Republican to Clean Sweep America foundation.

The Republicans see the handwriting on the new re-registrations when mere days before the Primariies in many states, prominent Democrats re-register as Republicans.

Republicans mount an effort called Stop Turning Over Please (STOP) but that organization gets little play in the media and an organization from Pennsylvania with the same acronym sues and a gag order is ordered over the use of STOP.

In near-hysteria at losing to a groundswell of Republicans who are really Democrats in the Primary elections all across the nation the Republicans implement quick middle of the night legislation that requires all voters to present their voter-registration card from 2006 rather than any current updated photo-id registration cards at the polls. If the two registration cards don't match as to Democrat-Democrat Party affiliation, the former Democrat registration card will take precedence, and poll workers are instructed to set the new touch-screen voting machines to the 2006 Party affiliation for the voter.

If the Republican voter complains that his, or her, touch-screen computer screen is not set for the Republican Party the voter is registered in, the judge of election is instructed (by previous training that was rapidly funded by Congress) to inform the voter that his, or her, previous Party affiliation for the 2006 Election takes precedence over the changed registration to Republican and the voter can either vote Democratically, or face a blank touch-screen.

It is your choice, the judge of election is instructed to repeat so the Democrat turned Republican for only this election and no other understands.

Even though the Republican legislation was designed to forestall a Primary clean sweep of only Republicans, the United We Clean Sweep and Switch to Republican to Clean Sweep America foundation managed to plant enough Democrat turned Republican judges of election who don't switch the computer monitors and so the coalition effort does clean sweep all 15 or so Republicans in Congress in the Primary Elections all across America.

The fact that Hilary Clinton and Harry Reid and Chuck Shumer and other Democrats switched Party affiliation for the Primaries in their respective states and voted Republican and the next day switched back to Democrat is discussed on C-Span with the question being asked: Should America have No Petty Elections?

Several callers answer No, then the screen switches to No Party Elections and a couple of callers answer Yes.

Web news outlets such as The Drudge Report post the results for No Petty Elections on their sites. The mainstream media picks up the reports and rush to be the first to print special editions showing more people want to maintain the status-quo of Political Party elections than not.

C-Span doesn't make any corrections nor set the record straight concerning the blow-up of results and host Brian Lamb refuses to respond to emails requesting an interview by Net the Truth Online. Supporters of whatreallyhappened.com take out a billboard ad which says 'It's the Republicraps, stupid."

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU OCT 5 2006 22:01:25 ET XXXXX CLAIM: FILTHY FOLEY ONLINE CHATS WERE PAGE 'PRANK GONE AWRY'**Update**

According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal. According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, said he goaded an unwitting Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats. ...
http://www.drudgereport.com/page.htm

ABC mistakenly releases ID in page probe

Thu Oct 5, 3:32 PM ET
NEW YORK - ABC News' fleeting, inadvertent publishing of a computer screen name enabled a blogger to track down and make public the supposed identity of a former congressional page who traded salacious messages with former Rep. Mark Foley...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061005/ap_on_go_co/abc_pages_2

Watchdog Group Disputes FBI's Claims on E-Mails
By Dan EggenWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, October 6, 2006; Page A04
The watchdog group that first provided the FBI with suspicious e-mails from then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) said yesterday that FBI and Justice Department officials are attempting to cover up their inaction in the case by making false claims about the group.
Law enforcement officials said the allegations by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) are without merit, and they stood by allegations that the group had refused to provide some information to the FBI...

The dispute is the latest controversy this week for CREW, a liberal-leaning group that has come under attack from House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and other Republicans because it has received money from a foundation funded by liberal financier George Soros.
CREW held a news conference Monday to announce that in July it had provided the FBI suspicious e-mails between Foley and a former House page. The group criticized the bureau for not taking more aggressive action and asked Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine to investigate the FBI's handling of the case.
Law enforcement officials said then that the e-mails did not provide enough evidence of a possible crime to warrant a full investigation. In the e-mails, Foley praises the physical attributes of one page and asks another teenager for his picture.
In subsequent days, unidentified Justice and FBI officials told reporters that the e-mails provided by CREW were heavily redacted and that the group refused to provide unedited versions to the FBI. One law enforcement official -- speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation -- also told The Washington Post the FBI believed that CREW may have received the e-mails as early as April and that the group refused to tell the FBI how they were obtained.
Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, said copies of the original e-mails she sent to an FBI agent show those assertions to be wrong. Sloan said the agent called to confirm receipt of the e-mails and to ask if one of the parties was Foley....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501657.html

Brian Lamb Fails us Again

I could not believe my ears this morning while watching Brian Lamb handle the question of the day. For some reason, C-Span has chosen to weigh in on the Mark Foley scandal with the question: Are Dems or Republicans better at handling sex scandals. After only 15 minutes into the callers speaking out, one man calls and begins elaborating on the question by being very descriptive of the well, you know what.

Lamb listens and lets the person continue to the end, which anyone with any common sense, was aware was building to a point of no return.

Then, Lamb says, I'm sure our listeners were not too pleased with that last caller. from now on when you get too graphic, we're going to cut you off.

Mr. Lamb, you were taken advantage of and you had to know that while listening to the man speaking. Why did you let him go on? He was obviously prepared with his provocative speech in an effort to see how far he could go on C-span.

You let him offend.

Why aren't we asking why the damn FBI who wiretaps regular citizens didn't capture Foley in this scandal years and years ago!

Why even ask the question you are asking when the American public still does not have the full story of September 11, 2001 and how President Clinton mishandled Bin Laden and how President Bush mishandled Bin Laden who has not yet reportedly been captured.

Where is the FBI? That's what programming of the former caliber of C-Span should be asking.

Where has E.D. Hill gone?

Depending on one's viewpoint, one of the original of the trio anchors of Fox 'n Friends has gone far, or not far.

Check out Fox News LIVE. (10 a.m.) That's where E.D. will be. Many who have watched Fox 'n Friends and E.D.'s cutting-edge interview style will be anxious to hear and view how she interviews without interruption from offhand 9rarely pertinent) remarks by Steve ok I'll refrain from the misspelling of his name using double doo's Doocy.

some believe the move by Fox was abrupt and consider this a demotion for Hill.

We are a laughin' at that. This change puts E.D. right alongside anchors who are actually "journalists," unlike Doocy and Kilmeade. We say E.D. should have her own several hour-long program called something like HILL-town! To of course replace the now reportedly gone, gone, gone DAYSIDE. (I thought of HILL-side, but why bring up potential memories of the horror of DAYSIDE.) Yes, HILL-town it should be.

Where I searched and found news about E.D. and what happened to her as I usually only watch Fox 'n Friends and stop there til the evening so I'd have missed completely E.D. is on LIVE, probably for weeks.

Hey E.D. wearing an eye-catching red outfit and carries this off so well. Now I'd have gone with black for the next week out of respect for the absolutely horrid Amish school-house murders.

I'd also be bringing on the founder of ablechild.com often to discuss the effects of anti-depressant drugs on patients, reportedly causing homicidal thoughts. (See previous post.)

Well now, I don't have time to be writing here all morning about E.D. Hill. If you agree with me though, that E.D. should have her own program called HILL-town, write or email Fox News - it couldn't be easier using their News Tips section.



http://www.foxnews.com/foxfriends/index.html

DOOCY and his gawdy-awful new book happymarriage or happycouples or whatever happy happy is plastered all over the Fox News site, even coming up in the search results for E.D. Hill.

I just put the title out of my mind because really I do not believe Doocy is truly happy in his marriage or as a person. Sorry, he is just too upbeat, happy, smiling - it's like he is hiding something behind his happy mask.

Maybe E.D. begged to be sent elsewhere on the network cause of the fake-happy doocy.


E.D.'s recent column
http://www.foxnews.com/column_archive/0,2976,161,00.html

http://www.newshounds.us/2006/09/24/e_d_hill_unceremoniously_booted_from_fox_friends.php

Thanks to a poster from newshounds.us for the link

Where is the outrage?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3vspqmjIVI

PS E.D. is right on oops almost said "target" don't want to do that after seeing the anti-J.D. Hayworth ad wherein J.D''s political opponent displays J.D. in the crosshairs of the scope of a gun - well she is outraged on the right side in her commentary.

George Soros should be E.D.'s first interview on her HILL-town program.

Ask him about voter fraud, E.D. We would!

Anti-depressant drugs cause homicidal thoughts

Interview with founder of ablechild.com on Fox's The Big Story with Gibson. http://www.foxnews.com/bigstory/index.html

Information came out that anti-depressant drugs cause homicidal thoughts. The Lancaster County Amish school-children killer was using Prozac, according to the guest.

Studies Raise Questions About Antidepressant-Suicide Link
Monday, February 21, 2005
By Salynn Boyles
Studies continue to raise questions about the risk of suicide in patients treated with antidepressant drugs. The studies also show that different antidepressants have the same suicide risk (search).
In 2004, the FDA concluded that antidepressant medications (search) increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adolescents with depression (search). Studies continue to show that this link exists even in adults treated for depression.
A new review bolsters claims of an increased risk of suicidal behavior in people taking the most popular antidepressants, but a second trial found no increase in such risk among depressed patients taking selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (search) (SSRIs).
A third study showed the risk of suicidal behavior to be no greater in patients taking SSRIs than in those taking an older class of antidepressants.
The three studies are published in the Feb. 19 issue of the BMJ.
(Story continues below)

They offer somewhat contradictory findings that seem to raise as many questions as they answer.

“I think there remains uncertainty about this question and there will continue to be uncertainty,” psychiatry research fellow Andrea Cipriani, tells WebMD.

Researchers Agree on Key Points

While the emerging evidence fails to give definitive answers about the risks of suicide in depressed people taking Prozac (search), Paxil (search), Zoloft (search), or the other SSRIs, the researchers contacted by WebMD agreed on several key points, including:

Untreated moderate-to-severe depression in adults appears to pose a bigger suicide risk than SSRI use. The benefits are less clear in children and adolescents, however. In an editorial accompanying the three studies, Cipriani wrote that the lack of long-term safety data “should discourage the routine prescribing of antidepressant drugs in children and adolescents.”
If there is an increased risk of suicidal behavior in people taking SSRIs, it seems to be greatest early in treatment. All agreed that patients should be closely monitored during this time.
Risk does not appear to be limited to this particular class of drugs.

In one of the newly published studies, researchers assessed the risk of self-harm and suicide among 146,000 patients taking either SSRIs or tricyclic antidepressants.

They found that the SSRIs and tricyclics, such as Elavil, Norpramin, or Pamelor, had similar risk profiles with regard to suicide and self-harm in adults. Children and adolescents who took SSRIs appeared to be at slightly greater risk for self-harm, but none of the children in the study actually committed suicide.

“Our finding that SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants (search) have a similar risk profile with respect to self-harm and nonfatal self-harm is reassuring,” researcher Carlos Martinez, PhD, and colleagues from the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency wrote.

“It is possible, however, that any adverse or protective effects are common to all classes of antidepressants.”

Largest Study Shows Twofold Increase in Risk

In the largest of the reviews, researchers reported a twofold increase in the rate of suicide attempts in patients taking SSRIs compared with those taking a placebo.

Researcher Dean Fergusson, PhD, and colleagues from Canada’s Ottawa Health Research Institute analyzed 700 studies involving more than 87,000 patients.

The large analysis also showed no difference in suicidal behavior among patients taking SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants.

Fergusson tells WebMD that while the overall rate of suicide attempts was low -- roughly four attempts for every 1,000 people treated -- the widespread use of SSRIs makes the issue a significant public health concern.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,148044,00.html

4 dead in Amish school shooting in Pa.
By MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer Mon Oct 2, 7:59 PM ET
NICKEL MINES, Pa. - A milk-truck driver carrying three guns and a childhood grudge stormed a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday, sent the boys and adults outside, barricaded the doors with two-by-fours, and then opened fire on a dozen girls, killing three people before committing suicide.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061002/ap_on_re_us/amish_school_shooting

Is global warming a media driven myth?

Hysteria... says James Inhofe on Fox News Saturday this morning.

CNN made 8 accusations against Inofe, all in error, he says. Talk about hurricanes, polar bear population being affected, simply not true...

Inofe makes some comment about Kyoto, too bad Fox doesn't provide the full transcript.

US did sign on to Kyoto Treaty? I didn't think we did, or if former President Clinton did, President George Bush rejected and reversed that.

Site don't believe...

Inhofe: Global-warming scientists, media "doomsayers" and tools of "hysterical Left"
Posted by Bob Geiger at 12:36 PM on September 27, 2006...

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/42224/

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=97

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=74

Kyoto Treaty. Did US sign it? OK apparently, somebody "signed" the Treaty, maybe the United Nations US delegate? but Clinton didn't send it to the Senate to ratify it? Neither has President Bush...

Ratification. For the United States to ratify the Protocol, the treaty must be
submitted to the U.S. Senate for advice and consent, with a two-thirds majority
vote in the Senate required for approval. If the United States does not ratify
the treaty, it is not subject to its terms and obligations. President Clinton
has voiced strong support for the Kyoto Protocol, though criticizing it for not
including commitments for developing countries. The United States signed it on
November 12, 1998. The U.S. signature was criticized by several Members of
Congress who oppose the treaty on a number of grounds, including questions about
the scientific justification for it and about the likely economic impacts that
might occur if the United States were to attempt to meet its emission reduction
commitments in the treaty. In recognition of the opposition expressed in the
Senate by S.Res. 98,
which passed 95-0, to a Protocol that does not include requirements for
emissions limitations by developing countries, the President has indicated that
he will not submit the treaty to the Senate for advice and consent until
meaningful developing country participation has been achieved...

http://ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Climate/clim-3.cfm

Not quite the whole story?

The United States signed onto the Treaty under the Clinton administration, but the Bush Administration has refused to submit it to the Senate for ratification.

http://www.globalsolutions.org/programs/glob_engage/Treaties/kyoto.html
kyoto treaty united states

It's a Protocol, not a Treaty? It's an amendment to an already signed Treaty?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol

Kyoto Accords Take Effect
February 16, 2005 · An agreement to fight global warming goes into effect Wednesday in much of the world. The Kyoto treaty was ratified by 140 nations, with some notable exceptions -- the United States and Australia did not sign the treaty. Signatories are legally committed to meeting emissions targets by 2012...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4501636

For more information on this issue use the search feature on this site located at the top left corner

http://netthetruthonline.blogspot.com/search?q=global+warming

Election hijinks

Worse, because Foley's name cannot be reomoved from absentee paper ballots in time for the election, whomever is named as Foley's replacement for the unexpired term will receive any votes Foley receives in the Florida election!

OK everybody take a deep breath... not too deep as the stink is spreading nationwide.

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voterreg/voting_info.shtml

Foley Scumbag

Not much more could be said about Tom Foley - what a scumbag. His entire congressional record should be reviewed to determine how long this scumbag has been "protected" and operating in secrecy. His name should go down in the history books as is. His only saving grace would be if he was on some kind of pharmaceutical drug that caused these kind of side effects.

Sept. 30, 2006 Foley Resigns Fox News

ABC Report
Sep 29, 2006 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six-term Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida will resign from the U.S. Congress following allegations he sent inappropriate e-mails to a 16-year-old male congressional intern, Republican sources said on Friday.
Foley, who represents a district in southern Florida, has served as chairman of a House caucus on missing and exploited children and was a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax and trade policy.

County commissioners nay rezoning, yet maintain unequal tax exemptions

Two of three Fayette County, PA commissioners voted against a contentious rezoning request by land developers, yet maintain the tax exemptions known as Keystone Opportunity Zones on the property. The KOZ designations were applied to thousands of acres in the county back in 1999, and subsequently in expansion zones, known as KOEZ. A previous board of commissioners which included current sitting-commissioner Vincent Vicites, authorized the KOZ for so-called blighted properties in late 1998. When a rezoning request was made for the Springhill Township acreage, opposition arose because the land was already designated KOZ and would include plans for housing development. Many contended forgiving local property taxes (and other taxes) for residential property particularly would be unfair to other local taxpayers. At that time, two commissioners voted for the rezoning with Commissioner Vicites voting nay.

Faced with a new group of developers with an interest in expanding the original proposal for housing development, two current commissioners made the decision to deny the rezoning request.

When will the two commissioners revisit the KOZ designation for the property and remove the KOZ from the residential portions if they believe as others do it is unfair treatment?

Why don't commissioners look into original plans to develop this property?

2001 Annual Report Executive Summary

...Finally, Springhill Township contracted for a land use study of the KOZ-designated property located in their township. All of this economic development activity...

http://www.ezec.gov/01_Exec_Summaries/fayettepa.html

Related material

Zero Taxes (for some)

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2002/10/14/story4.html


Residential rezoning application rejected

By Chris ForemanTRIBUNE-REVIEWFriday, September 29, 2006

Fayette County commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday to deny Crystal Springs Investors' application to rezone 229 acres within a Keystone Opportunity Zone to expand a residential development plan.

Commissioners Vince Vicites and Angela Zimmerlink opposed the application, which requested the rezoning of four Springhill Township parcels from agricultural-rural to medium-density residential. Commissioner Joe Hardy, the founder of the 84 Lumber building supply company, voted to approve the rezoning.

Crystal Springs, of Monroeville, has been negotiating with Fay-Penn Economic Development Council to purchase the properties. The existing zoning allows for single-family housing and duplexes, but Crystal Springs' representatives were hoping to include multifamily housing in their project.

A KOZ is a 10-year designation in which a property buyer receives forgiveness on state and local taxes for an economic development project.

In this case, those purchasing the homes also would receive an abatement on state and local income taxes until the KOZ expires on Dec. 31, 2013.

Vicites reiterated yesterday that he is against using a KOZ for residential development. Zimmerlink has said she believes it would create unfair competition between developers and residential homeowners. ...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/fayette/s_472760.html

Fayette commissioners adopt zoning ordinance
By Amy Zalar, Herald-Standard
09/29/2006

Vicites and Zimmerlink voted to deny a rezoning application by Crystal Springs Investors to rezone 229 acres from agricultural to residential in Springhill Township. Hardy voted against the denial. In voting against the rezoning, Vicites said he has been consistently against residential development in a Keystone Opportunity Zone.Crystal Springs wanted the zoning change to allow for construction of multi-family homes at the site, where single-family homes are already allowed because the former board of commissioners changed the zoning from industrial to agricultural. Vicites voted against the prior zoning change as well, while former Commissioners Sean M. Cavanagh and Ron Nehls voted for it. Crystal Springs plans to construct 300 single-family homes that will cost upwards of $300,000 in a gated community. The property owners will not have to pay property or wage and income taxes until the expiration of the KOZ in 2013.

http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17260468&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6

Glint in the "Party" Eye

MySpace Launches Voter-Registration Plan
By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- The youth-heavy online hangout MySpace.com is launching a voter-registration drive to engage its members in civics. In partnership with the nonpartisan group Declare Yourself, MySpace is running ads on its highly trafficked Web site and giving members tools such as a "I Registered To Vote On MySpace" badge to place on their personal profile pages...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MYSPACE_VOTER_REGISTRATION?SITE=PAGRE&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Electronic voting machines opposed in suit

Don't miss this article:

Electronic voting machines opposed in suit
By Alison Hawkes, For the Herald-Standard
08/16/2006

http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17057571&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6

HARRISBURG - A coalition of voting rights advocates filed a lawsuit in state court Tuesday asking that the new multimillion-dollar electronic voting machines purchased this spring by Pennsylvania counties be decertified before the November election and replaced with systems that ensure a paper record of ballots.

The 26 plaintiffs, a cross section of voters from the so-called voting integrity movement as well as members of the Philadelphia branches of the Black Clergy and NAACP, are suing Pennsylvania Department of State Secretary Pedro Cortes in Commonwealth Court.

They say he and his agency oversaw the certification of seven types of ATM-style electronic voting machines that do not adequately safeguard against hacking and are vulnerable to computer malfunctions.

Fayette County was listed as using such machines in the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs are calling for voting systems with a paper record of each vote cast for the purposes of an independent recount, a requirement they say is guaranteed in the state's election code in its mandate for a "permanent physical record of each vote cast."

"The machines certified in Pennsylvania are inherently unreliable," said Michael Churchill, a lawyer at the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia who is part of the law team handling the case. "They can be tampered with. They can malfunction and have a history of malfunctions which have disenfranchised voters all across the country.

"However, Department of State spokeswoman Leslie Amoros countered that electronic voting machines are safe to use and do have an ability to reconstruct an election through recording and later printing exact images of individual votes. Critics claim voters can't independently verify the accuracy of that backup as they cast their votes.

"The bottom line is these are systems that have been certified and thoroughly examined and that are certified in accordance with the law," Amoros said. "We have to certify them to ensure they provide accurate, secure and accessible elections."

If successful, the lawsuit could cost counties some of the millions of dollars they spent with federal aid to upgrade their voting systems. But Marian Schneider, a lawyer in the case, said counties may be able to recoup costs from vendors depending on the language of their contracts, or still use some of the components to their systems. Some counties also have not yet received their voting machines, she said.

"There's a bunch of options they could take," she said.

This is the latest lawsuit in what has been a rocky start for the Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversaw this year's federally mandated switch to newer machines amidst a persistent outcry from citizen groups.

In Westmoreland County earlier this year, a group of voters nearly threw the spring election into question with an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit arguing that voters must first approve new voting systems. Other lawsuits attacking certification of electronic voting machines followed suit.

The voting machine change is an outgrowth of the federal Help America Vote Act and was a response to the problems of hanging cads and butterfly ballots in the 2000 Florida debacle.

New machines in Pennsylvania went through their first test in this spring's primary, largely considered unproblematic.

"It went well overall, particularly since it's the first time using systems that met the HAVA requirements," said Amoros. "Most of the incidents that we became aware of were really ... things that could be addressed with additional training."

But plaintiffs attributed some of those training issues to problems with the machines. In Allegheny and Centre counties this year, iVotronic machines failed to print "zero tapes" showing no votes recorded on the machines before the polls opened. And in Philadelphia, 1,242 Danaher machines failed to activate or were unable to record write-in votes, preventing some from voting.

Plaintiffs also point out the 10,000-vote undercount in the 2004 presidential elections in Beaver, Mercer, and Greene counties. That machine snafu led the state elections department to ultimately decertify the UniLect Patriot touch-screen machines.

"Whatever the initial promise may have been for electronic voting we know now based on the consensus of computer security experts and actual experiences they are simply not ready for prime time," said attorney Lowell Finley, co-director of Voter Action, a group that has been part of similar suits in Colorado, California, Arizona and New Mexico.

More than half the states now are requiring some form of voter verified paper ballots, according to the critics. Without such a requirement, the swing-state of Pennsylvania was recently listed by good government watchdog Common Cause as one of 17 states at "high risk" for compromised election results because of electronic voting machine problems.

As written, the lawsuit would impact the 57 Pennsylvania counties using direct-recording electronic voting machines, which do not have paper backup capabilities.

Lawyers said the remaining counties would be unaffected because they chose one of the state's five optical scan machines, which allow voters to fill bubbles on paper ballots and a machine scans in the answers, like a standardized test.

The paper ballot is left at the booth as a hard backup to the vote.

Doylestown Township voter and plaintiff Janis Hobbes-Pellechio said she doesn't understand why Bucks was one of the counties that chose to replace its decades-old lever machines with Danaher, a touchscreen.

"They've made the whole electoral system complex. It's counting," said Hobbs-Pellechio. "It's left so many more avenues for things to go wrong and it doesn't have to be that way."

But Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley said the county's new Danaher system seemed the best suited to what commissioners were looking for. They're starting to demonstrate the machines to the public today at the county Grange Fair.

"The Danaher system best met that criteria - most accurate, user-friendly and cost-efficient," he said.

In a related matter, Bucks County Sen. Joe Conti has filed a bill to give voters the option to submit a paper ballot if they don't trust the electronic machines. His previous bill to require a voter verified paper record has been tied up in the Senate State Government Committee without a hearing since December, a staffer said.

Alison Hawkes can be reached at 717-705-6330 or Hyperlink>ahawkes@calkins-media.com Hyperlink>.

Vote Fix tackles danger of a PA Con-Con

More on the issue of a PA Constitutional Convention will be updated at Vote Fix where it will remain in the permanent archives (you never know with these blogs when someone will decide to close down the entire operation, or someone will cause your blog to be taken off for some reason or another.)

Don't miss the info provided here: http://dirtline.tripod.com/votefix/id96.html

Here's something for a start:

http://www.cusdi.org/statereferendums.htm

Notice there is no denying initiatives and referendums are "direct democracy" from the site with the draft amendment proposal.

Real Federal Deficit and PCN shows PA government (PA Constitution) reform bias

C-Span interview with USA TODAY reporter Dennis Cauchon about his report: What's the Real Federal Deficit?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-02-deficit-usat_x.htm

C-Span continues to provide unparalled service to the people to make informed opinions with programming such as this interview with Cauchon.

It is too bad, in my opinion, the Pennsylvania Cable Network, has not totally approached its mission as C-Span has. I have come to believe PCN has a bit of an agenda by only having interviews with so-called (PA Constitution) reform movement spokesmen.

To date, I have not seen one segment of PCN wherein someone opposed to calling and convening a Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention (for whatever purpose/purposes has been a guest.

When PCN invited its first guest blogger (and a columnist, actually so is that really a blogger), I relayed info about my blog, Net the Truth Online, and my website, Vote Fix http://dirtline.tripod.com/votefix/ to PCN, noting I had compiled a wide range of information about the dangers of a PA Con-Con. At the very least, PCN could interview some well-known opponent to a PA Con-Con (seems like there may not be any willing to step forward because reform is the hot-hot topic.)

While this article is from a while back, http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/specialreports/capitalcash/s_419693.html

I found it odd and really let me say almost unconscionable, to quote only Jubelirer about potential reforms via a PA Con-Con.

The Senate's highest elected Republican on Wednesday opened fire on
reformers who opposed the pay raise and want to defeat incumbents, rewrite the
Pennsylvania Constitution, and cut lawmakers' perks.

Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer, R-Altoona, is the first
legislative leader to defend the institution of the General Assembly by
responding directly to prominent reformers across the state.

"The system is not broken, elected officials are not as bad, and
Pennsylvania's situation is not as hopeless, as daily depicted," Jubelirer
said...

What did they expect the PA Senator to say, we are not good people, the system we crafted is bad, bad, bad; we don't follow the PA Constitution but it, the PA Constitution is bad anyway?

OK sit down and hold onto your seat as I respond to this quote from the same article

Jubelirer also criticized a suggested constitutional convention, saying that proponent Tim Potts, founder of Democracy Rising PA, wants to "put the constitution up for grabs" after witnessing interest groups commandeering the ballot process in other states.

I agree with Jubelirer! Potts and others like Russ Diamond are putting the PA Constitution up for grabs after witnessing groups commandeering the ballot process in other states!

And it isn't ballot access that is the issue, it is "citizen initiatives and referendums."

Can't wait to determine how many political campaign contributions to Russ Diamond's run for Governor of PA came from just such organizations outside of PA.

Unfortunately, what is being missed is that it is the PA Constitution that is being held accountable for the actions - unconstitutional actions - of the people in the state legislature who are supposed to uphold the PA Constitution.

The PA Constitution is not at fault for the infractions of the elected public servants.

I'd also like to know where was the Tribune-Review when the state legislators passed the unconstitutional Keystone Opportunity Zones?

Guess where, right on the bandwagon of economic development boost via "tax-free" zones to attract "new" companies to "relocate" to Pennsylvania, that's where.

INFO OF USE

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/VC/visitor_info/creating/constitution.htm

Clarke Thomas: Constitutional Convention wisdom
Keep momentum growing to attack the core problems in Harrisburg
Wednesday, July 05, 2006Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Talk is in the air of mounting a Constitutional Convention to update the Pennsylvania Constitution. For one thing, the furor over the Legislature's secretive after-midnight vote last July to increase its pay has boiled over into talk of trimming its size...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06186/703344-108.stm

Comprehensive information

Don't miss this site. http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/PA.htm

Look behind the "scream"

Watchdog group favors GOP as targets
BY BORYS KRAWCZENIUK

U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood shouldn’t feel singled out over flak from a nonprofit Washington watchdog group that recently questioned his ethics over federal money spent buying a pickup truck from his dealership.In the last three years, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has targeted dozens of elected congressmen, White House officials and political action committees in its news releases and requests for investigations by federal agencies.

The list includes former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, White House adviser Karl Rove, Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.

They, Mr. Sherwood and the vast majority of the group’s targets, share a common trait: They’re Republicans or have ties to Republican groups.CREW criticized Mr. Sherwood because about half the $21,000 the Wyoming County Conservation District spent on a new pickup truck at the congressman’s Tunkhannock Chevrolet dealership came from federal money he had obtained for them. District officials say Sherwood Chevrolet was the lower of two bidders.

The congressman says he didn’t know about the purchase until well after the fact and plans to ask the House Ethics Committee for advice on future transactions...



http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16958876&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6

We'll see

Russ Diamond:

Re: Diamond Write-in Campaign
--- In pacleansweep@yahoogroups.com, Jeni Ertmer wrote:>> Ok Russ - or "Monkey wrench" - it might be worth the try just tosee what> the heck WOULD happen, don't 'cha think?>> JeniOh, yeah, it'd be fun.

Here's another twist: Just called the local election folks and askedwhat is the maximum number of characters a voter can type with thewrite-in option on the ES&S systems they've just upgraded to. Off the top of their head answer: 25 (they'll be confirming for me inthe next day or so)How many characters on the current Indie ticket? Count 'em:Russ Diamond / Tom Lingenfelter

That's 26, without the spaces or slash.

Here's a bigger wrench: If you want to write in someone forPresident, you don't write their name - you must write the names of21 separate Presidential Electors to the electoral college.Now we're having fun!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pacleansweep/message/13447

Will check tomorrow with our election bureau to determine if both names have to appear together or can the write-in names appear separately?

Will check Electoral College...

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0140130-00&templatename=/article/artic

Lobbyist disclosure act can't ever be Constitutional

It is the Pennsylvania incumbents who should disclose the monies/donations/contributions/in-kind services and so forth they receive from whomever to fund their election or re-election campaigns. Oh gee, let me check, but I believe there are already laws regarding political candidates disclosing their financial status before, during, and after an election.

Lobbyist disclosure as is not likely to pass PA Constitutional muster. Again. Or ever.

It didn't in the past.

http://www.pagr.org/news_0903.shtml

Well, we can all google on that to our heart's and obsessive-compulsive disorder's content. How can requiring a lobbyist, an individual engaged in a legal occupation, to disclose all kinds of particulars be something anybody who values privacy and freedom would want?

The key word is "lobbyist." Just insert any other occupation, how about journalist? How about teacher? How about baby-sitter?

Lobbyist disclosure is another issue for the populist agenda bandwagon.

Another issue state legislators can claim hey we're trying to rein "them" in - those nasty (Fortune 500, capitalist) lobbyists.

Another issue would-be legislators can claim they are not doing something about this, but I will, I promise.

Another issue for the media to write about in ha non-biased news articles and editorials.

Another subject for "good government" speakers to add to their reportoirre during press association luncheons.

Who cares about our basic INHERENT RIGHTS? Not a whole bunch, that's for certain.

Why target lobbyists? Easy game, that's why.

The Governor of PA knows how to satiate the drooling media, and foggy-brained public, though...

http://www.governor.state.pa.us/governor/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=446015

Note the answers - that's right, this is all voluntary and without any meat or substance, people, as it would be unconstitutional to require such compliance or deny someone an inherent right to pursue a legal gainful employment activity!

Question 9What are the sanctions that will apply against lobbyists who fail to comply with these requirements?

AnswerAbsent legislation, the Governor does not have the authority to impose penalties or sanctions against lobbyists who do not comply with this Executive Order since they are not executive branch employees who fall directly within his jurisdiction. Therefore the Executive Order will depend on voluntary compliance by lobbyists, the due diligence of state employees and the increased public scrutiny that should occur by establishing the registration and reporting process. To correct this situation, the General Assembly could pass, and in fact has enacted in the past, comprehensive legislation to require direct registration and reporting by lobbyists and to provide for sanctions for non-compliance by those that lobby any branch of state government. If the Legislature were to enact a meaningful lobbyist registration and disclosure bill, it should require lobbyists to register and complete detailed expense reports on their activities, and enforce these provisions with civil and criminal sanctions. Such legislation should cover lobbying of all state officials, including the Executive Branch officials. The change to the Code of Conduct proposed by the Governor represents the best way to accomplish Executive Branch lobbying disclosure under existing law.

Question 10Can’t the Ethics Commission enforce registration and reporting requirements for lobbyists?

AnswerNo. The Ethics Commission has only as much power as the Legislature has given it. The Legislature has not passed legislation giving the Commission enforcement power against lobbyists who do not comply with Executive Branch rules about registration and disclosure. Indeed, the Legislature has not enacted lawful legislation requiring lobbyists to register in the first place.

http://www.governor.state.pa.us/governor/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=446015

Lobbying disclosure left out of budget bill
By Brad BumstedSTATE CAPITOL REPORTERMonday, July 3, 2006

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania still holds the distinction of being the only state without a lobbyist disclosure law.

Legislation to require uniform reporting of how much businesses, groups and associations spend to lobby elected officials was one of the casualties over the weekend in the scramble to pass a $26 billion state budget. Gov. Ed Rendell signed the budget into law early Sunday.

The House and Senate each passed versions of lobbyist disclosure rules but could not agree on what should go to the governor. The measure has changed repeatedly as legislators wrangled over how tough to make the requirements and how much to ask lobbyists to disclose. Leaders said they hoped to break the impasse by the time lawmakers return in mid-September.
Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair, who sponsored the House bill, said senators did not take enough time to resolve the differences between the two measures.

Sen. Robert C. Jubelirer, the chamber's president pro tempore who was the architect of the Senate bill, said a key point of dispute was what would trigger a requirement for lobbyists to report services they provide to lawmakers and officials of the executive branch.

Under both versions, lobbyists would have to register with the State Department once they receive more than $2,500 in a financial quarter for lobbying activities. Corporations, trade groups and others that employ lobbyists would have to register once they spend more than $2,500 in a financial quarter. Both would have to file reports categorizing how they spent the money.




Details
How they voted
Here's how Western Pennsylvania legislators voted Saturday on the $26 billion state budget bill, which passed 130-68 vote in the House and 28-21 in the Senate.
House
Allegheny County: Paul Costa (D), Yes; Anthony DeLuca (D), Yes; Frank Dermody (D), Yes; Michael Diven (R), Yes; Shawn Flaherty (D), Yes; Dan Frankel (D), Yes; Marc Gergely (D), Yes; Nick Kotik (D), Yes; David Levdansky (D), Not voting; John Maher (R), No; Joseph Markosek (D), Yes; Mark Mustio (R), No; Thomas Petrone (D), Yes; Frank Pistella (D), Yes; Joseph Preston (D), Yes; Harry Readshaw (D), Yes; Kenneth Ruffing (D), Yes; Thomas Stevenson (R), No; Mike Turzai (R), No; Don Walko (D), Yes; Jake Wheatley (D), Yes
Armstrong County: Jeffrey Pyle (R), No
Beaver County: Vincent Biancucci (D), Yes; Sean Ramaley (D), Yes; Michael Veon (D), Yes
Butler County: Brian Ellis (R), No; Daryl Metcalfe (R), No
Washington County: Peter Daley (D), Yes; Victor John Lescovitz (D), Yes; Timothy Solobay (D), Yes
Westmoreland County: R. Ted Harhai (D), Yes; John Pallone (D), Yes; Joseph Petrarca (D), Yes; Jess Stairs (R), No; Thomas Tangretti (D), Yes
Senate
Allegheny County: Jay Costa (D), Yes; Jim Ferlo (D), Yes; Wayne Fontana (D), Yes; Sean Logan (D), Yes; Jane Clare Orie (R), No; John Pippy (R), No
Beaver County: Gerald LaValle (D), Yes
Washington County: J. Barry Stout (D), Yes


By Brad Bumsted

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_460486.html

Items of Interest:
http://www.theadvocates.org/liberator/vol-11-num-3.html