Democracy for New Mexico

Garduño and O'Malley Campaigns for ABQ City Council Seats Heat Up

Report and photos by Suzanne Prescott:
The official campaigns for Debbie O'Malley and Rey Garduño have gotten off to a good start. Canvassers in Rey's district and Debbie's district are already collecting signatures. According to Garduño, he already has half of the approximately 550 signatures needed. No count is available from O'Malley who needs approximately 650 signatures.

Both candidates have events planned for this weekend. District 2 incumbent candidate O'Malley is having a KICK-OFF PARTY at her house tonight (Friday) from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. She's inviting people to stop by and have a bite to eat with other supporters and pick up a petition sheet(s) and walking lists, or sign up to walk on a weekday or weekend with Debbie and other volunteers.

What: KICK OFF PARTY
Where:  AT O'Malley's - 839 Fitzgerald Rd. NW (Off of 4th Street, 1 Block S of Candelaria—the street next to Wendy's)
When:  Friday, June 15, 5:30 to 8:00PM
Who: O'Malley supporters

Garduño also plans a get-together at his house. So far he reports that voters are telling him that voters have expressed major concerns about traffic in the district and concerns about the aging infrastructure in District #6. Voters are saying that they would like to see their tax dollars spent to revive the aging infrastructure. The information below is for anyone who has time to help Rey this Saturday.

When:  Saturday, June 16th, 10 AM-1 PM
Where:  At Garduño's - We will meet at our house:  414 Vassar, Dr. NE (Just inside the UNM Campus – from Girard and Campus; go West on Campus into the campus, first right is Vassar, first house is 414 Vassar; If you are having difficulties call 266-4424 or 688-6981 cell.)
Why:  To continue the momentum and possibly finish our Petition Drive. Come to door-knock or if you don’t have the time, stop by to sign a petition and/or take some petition forms with you! 
Who:  All community members that support clean elections and a strong community voice on the City Council. Especially people registered to vote in City Council District 6.

Editor's Note: You can read all our previous posts on the Albuquerque City Council races in our archive. Click to visit Rey Garduño's campaign website.

Hike This Weekend With NM Wild and Help Prevent Off-Road Vehicle Abuse

From the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance:
The Forest Service put forth the Travel Management Rule (TMR) as a way to reign in increasing off-road vehicle abuse.  When completed, each National Forest will have a map showing where motorized travel is allowed.  All other routes and cross-country travel will be banned.

The Sandia Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest is one of the first to move forward under the TMR.  This Saturday and Sunday, June 16-17, the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance will be heading out to the two areas most affected by this process: La Madera and Cedro Peak. La Madera is on the northeast side of the Sandia Mountain's and Cedro Peak is south of I-40 and heavily used by motorized users (see details below). Off-road vehicle users are advocating the opening of these ecological areas to unrestricted motorized access.

By participating in these outings you will gain an overview of the Forest Service Travel Management Rule, be given examples of how it might affect each area and learn how to make your voice heard!

PROJECT DETAILS:

Saturday, June 16th – La Madera
We’ll lead a short hike into Gonzales Canyon and a long hike into Tejon Canyon – take your pick. We’ll meet at the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance office in Albuquerque, 142 Truman NE, near the corner of Central and San Mateo at 8:15 AM.

Or you can meet us at the Vista Grande Community Center (VGCC) on La Madera Road at 9:30 AM. Take Hwy 14 north. A little less than a mile north of the junction with the road to the crest, turn west on La Madera Road. VGCC is a short ways up. If you reach the high school you went too far.  At each location we’ll figure out the caravan and head out.  Bring snacks, lunch, water, good hiking shoes and appropriate clothing.

Sunday, June 17th – Cedro Peak area
For those interested in the preservation of single track trails, this process will be especially critical.  We’ll meet at the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance office in Albuquerque, 142 Truman NE, near the corner of Central and San Mateo at 9:00 AM.

Or you can meet us at the Sandia Ranger Station about ½ mile south of I-40 on Hwy 337 at 10:00 AM.  At each location we’ll figure out the caravan and head out.  Bring snacks, lunch, water, good hiking shoes and appropriate clothing.

If you are unable to attend either of these events:
In July, the Sandia Ranger District will host another round of meetings in Albuquerque and Tijeras to discuss their proposed action. Please contact Micheal Scialdone (scial@nmwil.org) or Criag Chapman (craig@nmwild.org) for further information.

If you have questions or want to sign up, please contact Michael Scialdone (scial@nmwild.org) or Craig Chapman (craig@nmwild.org) 505-843-8696.

Sign up for NM Wild Action Center Alerts.

Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Launches Ad Campaign Targeting Rep. Pearce on Global Warming Issue

Group Launches "Heads in the Sand" Internet and Radio Campaign focusing on Five Anti-environmental Congressmen

WASHINGTON - Yesterday, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund (Defenders Action Fund) launched a targeted radio and web campaign -- www.headsinthesand.org -- to hold accountable Congressman Steve Pearce as one of five anti-environmental congressmen who have their "heads in the sand" on global warming. The five Congressmen – also including Reps. Ken Calvert (CA), John Doolittle (CA), Dean Heller (NV), and Rick Renzi (AZ) – have ignored the facts on global warming because of the undue influence of corporate polluters and their lobbyists.

"Americans want action now on global warming," said Defenders Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen. "But extreme anti-environmentalists in Congress, like Rep. Pearce, continue to have their heads stuck in the sand on energy policy while taking money from big oil and polluters. We're launching the 'Heads in the Sand' campaign to hold these members accountable to their constituents."

Visit the campaign's Steve Pearce page to learn more about Pearce's deplorable environmental record, as well as listen to the radio ad that will be airing in New Mexico 2rd Congressional District.

“Congressman Pearce’s way of thinking is out of sync with America and … the values of New Mexicans.” - 2007, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

All five congressmen have a record of anti-conservation, pro-global warming votes and have accepted significant donations, in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars, from Big Oil and other corporate polluters.  The four congressmen who served in the 109th Congress scored 5 percent or lower on the Action Fund's latest Conservation Report Card. On Wednesday, Reps. Pearce and Heller – both members of the House Natural Resources Committee – voted against legislation to help combat global warming and protect wildlife from its impacts.

"We're looking to send a clear message that the American people won't tolerate representatives who continue to favor big polluters and their special interests," Schlickeisen said. "Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus, there are still members of Congress with their heads in the sand on global warming. That's why we're launching this new project to hold these five lawmakers accountable for endangering our wildlife, our wild places and our children's future."

"These are just the first five members we're targeting; any anti-environmental member who favors oil and gas money interests and obstructs meaningful effort to combat global warming could be next," added Schlickeisen.

To listen to the ads, visit www.headsinthesand.org.

The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund www.defendersactionfund.org provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.

Editor's Note: Also see the Politico blog for another report on the Defenders' campaign. For current info on what's going on in the Congressional race in NM-02, including two announced Democratic challengers, see this post on Heath Haussamen.

Video and More: Honor the Earth in NM, AZ

After their Santa Fe concert last month, the Indigo Girls performed at Honor the Earth clean energy benefit events in Shiprock and Flagstaff. Amy Ray provides a report and videos about the events via their e-news:

Notes from Amy Ray of Indigo Girls:
We had a couple of really successful Honor the Earth shows in the Southwest last month. Both of these shows were held to benefit a renewable energy future in Native Communities. As a lot of you know, this has been a main focus for Honor since its inception. In these times of growing awareness and access to more resources for wind and solar development, we feel even more excitement than usual for what can be achieved in Indian Country.

Shiprock, NM: We started out in Shiprock, New Mexico in Navajo country where communities have been in a stand off with Sithe Global Power and the Dine Power Authority over construction of a new coal fired power plant at Desert Rock. A group of hardy folks have been camped out since December where the proposed plant would be. This plant would drain the water aquifer even further and contribute an alarming amount of pollutants to the struggling atmosphere of the Four Corners Region where numerous other power plants already exist. The communities suffer from respiratory diseases and cancers from the current coal industry. They have continuously been asked to trade their health and ecosystem for an economy. The money raised from this show went to: Dooda Desert Rock Committee, Operation Desert Rock, Dine Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (DINE Care), and Utah Dine Bikeya Committee.

Earl Tulley, Winona LaDuke and Lori Goodman

The event was a total communal effort with all the groups tabling in the lobby, Winona LaDuke speaking, and the Hopi Reggae band Casper opening the show. We ended the night with a Q and A between the audience and the beneficiaries that quickly turned into a really interesting public forum.

Earl Tulley, Amy, Elouise Brown, Lori Goodman and Emily

Video from Shiprock Honor the Earth:

• Shiprock Part 1
• Shiprock Part 2
• Shiprock Part 3
• Shiprock Part 4

Flagstaff, AZ: We drove on our bio-diesel fueled bus to Flagstaff, Arizona for the next show. This show was the second half of the “turning bad energy to good” equation. Proceeds benefited Native groups within the Just Transition Coalition, such as the Black Mesa Water Coalition. The Just Transition plan is a totally brilliant model of how to shift to renewable energy. The Coalition developed this strategy when a super polluting power plant called the Mojave Generating Station closed down in Laughlin, Nevada. This plant served Southern California’s power needs, but it did it by destroying the health and ecosystem of the Hopi and Dine people. When the plant was forced to close due to work by groups such as the Sierra Club, this team of strategists developed a plan that would take the revenues from the sale of Southern California Edison’s sulfur credits and turn the to good use.

So Cal Edison received credits when the plant closed, these can be sold to other polluters that need them. It’s sort of a bad system of big profits that allows those with the money to keep polluting but it can also be used for good like in this case-where the money could go to the Hopi and Dine communities that sacrificed for decades to provide cheap power to the customers of So Cal Edison. This revenue from the sale of sulfur credits could amount to as much as 20 million dollars a year and give immediate relief for lost water and coal royalties, lost jobs from the closure, and support the building of a renewable energy industry in this region, which would provide jobs and income.

What has been the most striking to see is that these communities don’t even use much of the power they generate. Many of them are still living off the grid and the rest don’t benefit because most of the power is transported off the reservations. After draining the water aquifers and poisoning the earth and sky, this plan would usher in a new energy economy to the Dine and Hopi people, who have suffered the most for the sake of our energy needs. I think the Just Transition is a model for turning the tide of our energy future.

Members of the Just Transition Coalition and allies in Flagstaff

The show itself was very festive. Hoop dancer, Nakotah LaRance opened the event, Sonaya and the People’s Crew played a set of world music, Winona spoke, and we ended the night with an IG music set. We had an auction to sing with us that raised about $4,700. Cheers to Jamie Gillette, Michelle Picini, Kerry Gilbert, and Teresa Murphy for donating the money and doing a fine rendition of Closer to Fine.

Video from Shiprock Honor the Earth

Editor's Note: To learn more about the battle against the Desert Rock Power Plant visit the Dooda Desert Rock website. For more info on the work of the Just Transition Coalition, visit the . Make a donation. Write a letter to the editor and Governor. Get involved.

Granny D Speaks

Granny D at DemocracyFest 2007. Photo by .

You may remember Doris "Granny D" Haddock as the always eloquent and passionate activist who literally walked across America in 1999-2000 to advocate for campaign finance reform, and who coordinated numerous actions that helped gain passage of the McCain-Feingold reform bill two years later. In 2003 and 2004, she traveled 23,000 miles to encourage voter registration in poor neighborhoods in swing states. She also ran for the Senate in 2004, when no other Democrat challenged NH Repub Judd Gregg. Her activism continues. The now 97-year-old New Hampshire resident is still working to get pay-for-play money out of our election process, but she also has some noteworthy things to say these days about other issues, including immigration, agri-gangsters and "free" traders.

Granny D spoke recently about these issues at DemocracyFest, an annual grassroots conference organized by volunteers allied with Democracy for America, which was held in New Hampshire this year. Democracy for New Hampshire, one of the main sponsors of this year's Fest, provided the following transcript of her speech. Someone should tell Granny to stop making sense. She exposes the cowardice and corruption of all the bought-off politicos of both parties. How dare she!

Granny D's comments from Democracy Fest:
Thank you. It is normally expected that, when given an opportunity to speak, I will talk about campaign finance reform and, more specifically, about the public financing of campaigns as a way of cutting the threads of the big-money puppet show in Washington and in Concord.

But today I would like to talk about unauthorized immigration.

Of course, unauthorized immigration has nothing to do with the big money corruption of our political system. It is just a matter of people in poor countries trying their best to find their way to better opportunities in the north for their families.

It seems to be a big issue with our Republican candidates, as they are well-known to be the law and order party. That, after all, is why they are demanding that Scooter Libby pay the full price for his perjuries and obstructions of justice. They are the law and order party, with the normal exceptions of the Geneva Convention and the U.S. Constitution, especially its Bill of Rights. But we know what they mean: When they say they are for law and order, they are talking mostly about keeping down the uppity poor folk. They are certainly not talking about the big corporations, hotel companies, agribusiness giants, retailers who employ millions of unauthorized immigrants but who make up for that sin with large campaign donations.

But I do not come to talk about corrupting campaign donations and the need for public campaign financing. I come to talk of unauthorized immigration and a little about corn and something about tortillas. I call it unauthorized immigration, not illegal, because I don't want to use words that confuse Republicans.

In saying that the Republican candidates are more interested in the immigration issue, I do not mean to imply that it is less important for any of us.

If you will look around the check-out lines at the grocery stores and notice the widening measurements of our fellow citizens –we can hardly get through the aisles any more. We can certainly see for ourselves the problem of having too much cheap labor around to do all our yardwork and housework for us. By my calculations, the roughly 3 billion pounds of extra weight now being carried on the hips of working-age American citizens is roughly equivalent to the combined weight of the unauthorized immigrants now in our communities. The math is clear and persuasive. Cheap labor is bad for every…body.

But why are so many people risking their lives to come into our country now? When did this big rush begin?

It began when Mr. Clinton approved NAFTA – the North American Free Trade Agreement, and when he militarized our southern border at the same time. Prior to these combined actions, families crossed the border very commonly, especially during harvest seasons. After harvest, they would go home to Mexico or Central America because that's where they lived with their families in quite happy communities.

When the border was militarized, it became to risky to go back and forth. So they stayed.

Why did Mr. Clinton militarize the border? He did so because NAFTA was about to pull out the rug from under Mexico's small family farms. We flooded Mexico with cheap corn--exports that we subsidize to the tune of some $25 billion dollars a year by Congress to a handful of agribusiness giants. Of course, I am not here to tell you why Congress does that, and what might be done to stop it. But they do it, and Mexican family farmers cannot compete. In the years since NAFTA was signed, half of Mexico's small farms have failed. The only kind of farming that can now compete in Mexico is big agribusiness, which does not employ many people. Tortillas in Mexico now contain two-thirds imported corn, and they are three times as expensive at retail level than before NAFTA. The people have less money, and the cost of food is rising. We have done that. Our precious Senators and Congressmen and their corporate cronies have done that raw and cruel exploitation in our names.

The result of undermining Mexican farms, as Clinton expected, was a rising flood of poor people moving from rural areas into Mexico's big cities, which have become so poor and overcrowded that all one can do is dream of going north across the border.

Now, if any Democratic candidates for President would like to show a little courage and intelligence, let them address the real cause of our flood of unauthorized immigrants. Will Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama or Mr. Edwards or any of the other candidates face down the agri-gangsters that are behind this problem? Probably they will not, so long as Iowa has a major primary.

Let me say that I am not ranting and raving about these new Americans. When Mexico owned Texas and everything west, and when they cut off migration across their borders, our people kept coming –crossing illegally in search of opportunities for their families. When Mexico got upset by this, we trumped-up false reasons for a war, and we illegally took those lands. So let's not stand on any moral high ground.

The people coming across the border today, with the usual exceptions, are family people with an incredible work ethic. Personally, I welcome them. I congratulate them for their courage and their dedication to their families. I want them to stay and become citizens, or, if some prefer, to return to their homeland at a time when there is international justice and a decent chance for their prosperity at home.

I regret what the political corruption of our system has done to their farms and their communities back home. It is not the peoples' fault –it is the fault of corrupt leaders of both parties. We must speak this truth to these powerful people, even to those candidates that we otherwise admire.

So, candidates Clinton, Edwards, Obama and the rest: Do you understand the reasons why immigration numbers are growing? Are you smart enough to understand the situation? Are you brave enough to do something--to even say something--about it? Or is the truth too big for you?

I ask you all to be good citizens and good Democrats. And that means to ask the toughest questions so that the interests of the people –the people of our nation and of the world –will be served. Isn't that what we're here for?

And do you see why I do not need to harp on campaign finance reform, to cut the strings of the puppet show in Washington and in Concord that allows these cruelties to continue? I didn't have to say a word about that, because you understand it. You understand what must be done.

Thank you.

This transcript was distributed by:
Nancy Tobi, Co-Founder, Democracy For New Hampshire
Chair, Fair Elections Committee
Legislative Coordinator, Election Defense Alliance
nancy.tobi@gmail.com
www.DemocracyForNewHampshire.com

Editor's Note: You can read many other speeches by Granny D here, or check out her book, ""Granny D: You're Never Too Old to Raise a Little Hell," and how to get it here. Read our previous posts on Granny D:

• Listen to Your Granny, 8.21.04
• Granny D Hospitalized, 2.6.05

Calling All Nurses, Healthcare Professionals (and Everybody Else)

Must read post on the California Nurses Association - National Nurses Organizing Committee blog about the attendance of 1,000 of their members at a special debut screening of Michael Moore's Sicko (trailer above) in Los Angeles. The nurses gave the film AN EIGHT MINUTE STANDING OVATION when it ended. Now they're calling for nurses and other healthcare professionals all over the nation to see the movie when it opens in other cities (including Albuqueque) on June 29th, distribute information at the screenings about reforming the system (which they will supply) and come up with other actions to draw attention to issue.

... calling all nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals.  We need you to join the “Scrubs for SiCKO” campaign.  Sign up with us, we’ll send you literature to hand out opening night June 29th. Bring a buddy, and help solve this healthcare crisis by advocating for guaranteed healthcare on the single-payer model.

As the Scrubs for Sicko site says:

Michael Moore’s latest film, “Sicko” brings to cinematic life and details in unsparing and vivid imagery the everyday experience of all nurses as they care and advocate for their patients in the confines of a health care industry that long ago abandoned its caring mission in favor of the pursuit of profit at any cost.

Nurses experience first hand the pain and terror of every patient and their families as they are forced to confront a callous and uncaring health care industry when at their most frail and vulnerable, and the inevitable personal tragedies when they can't receive needed care due to escalating costs and the ‘care containment’ damage endemic to the industry’s medicine-by-spreadsheet credo. 

It is nurses, of course, who are there to bear witness to these horrendous moments every day of every shift in every hospital across the U.S., and who are often the last and best hope for these patients and families.

Get Involved With Healthcare Reform in NM
Of course, the timing for such an effort couldn't be more right in New Mexico, where Governor Richardson's health care task force and legislators are currently mulling the results of Mathematica's study of three options for improving healthcare coverage in the state. Only one of them -- which Mathematica has said would actually SAVE the state money -- would offer genuine universal, single-payer coverage. That plan is the Health Security Act.

For more information on actions you can take to urge real reform in New Mexico, check out these websites:

• Health Action New Mexico
• What If You Knew

Health Action New Mexico will be holding town hall meetings around New Mexico this summer to explain Mathematica's findings and build support for changing our healthcare system so that it serves ALL our citizens. New Mexico's Legislative Health and Human Services Committee will also be holding meetings this summer to develop legislation on healthcare based on the Mathematic report. If you care about healthcare, please consider attending.

Be sure to read Health Action New Mexico's lastest newsletter (pdf) for more info on what's going on this summer, including critical meetings scheduled for later this month.

Burning Question of the Day: Why Do Albanians Love George Bush?

Stephen Colbert examines a surreal phenomena: Why do Albanians love George Bush?  Hint, it isn't because of this outfit:

Click on image for full effect.

Elizabeth Edwards to Host John Edwards Fundraiser in Albuquerque

Elizabeth and John Edwards at recent campaign event

From John Edwards '08:
Elizabeth Edwards will be in Albuquerque this month at a house party to benefit her husband John's presidential campaign:

What: John Edwards for President Fundraiser
with Elizabeth Edwards
Date: Friday, June 22nd
Time: 6 PM
Place: Home of Ron Morgan, 508 Solano SE, ABQ
Tickets: $250, $500, $1000, and $2300
RSVP: Amanda Scott (505) 224-8089 or ascott@johnedwards.com

Ellen Theisen and Brad Friedman Discuss the Dismantling of our Democracy TONIGHT on Voice of the Voters

From the Coalition on Voting Integrity:

Ellen Theisen, Author of the Theisen Report
and Brad Friedman, editor of the Bradblog,
Discuss the Dismantling of our Democracy

TONIGHT on Voice of the Voters Heard on
1360 AM, Philadelphia's Renaissance Radio,
and on the internet (https://wnjc.duxpond.com/)
Wednesday, June 13 -- 6 PM Mountain Time
All Shows archived here

In the wake of the controversy stirred up by the flawed Holt bill, H.R. 811, voting rights activists all over the country hoped that the Senate would provide an improvement. What they got instead was a mandate for the demise of democracy. From Teresa Hommel of WheresThePaper.org:

[Parts of "The Ballot Integrity Act of 2007"] "explicitly sell out American democracy to corporate commercial interests. The EAC and vendors, without other stakeholders such as states, parties, and citizens, will develop a process to protect private interests from public knowledge of how our elections are conducted."

Tonight's special guests on Voice of the Voters will address the legislative questions that are swirling around voting reform. Ellen Theisen, founder of Voters Unite and author of the recently released Theisen Report, will discuss in depth the dangers of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Senate Bill 1487, "The Ballot Integrity Act of 2007." The Theisen Report is available here.

Brad Friedman, editor of the BradBlog.com, will be on hand to discuss S. 1487 as well as the controversy surrounding H.R. 811. Brad will also report on breaking election integrity news from around the country as only he can.

Listen tonight to find out how S. 1487 threatens the integrity of American elections by:

Establishing a Class System within Our Electorate: The bill systematically dismantles go of the people, by the people and for the people and sanctions the creation of a class structure with different rules for distinct communities such as racial minorities and the elderly. Who's next?

Elevating the Elections Assistance Commission to Dangerous and Unconstitutional Levels of Power:(from the Theisen Report) In an astonishing undercutting of the governmental structure established by the Constitution, this bill would combine Executive and Legislative powers into one agency, under the President and unaccountable to the people or any government structure.

This bill not only does the bill give the EAC authority to execute laws, but by making the EAC guidelines and certification process mandatory, this bill would also give EAC lawmaking powers. The guidelines and certification process - established by these four Presidential appointees unaccountable to the public - would become federal law.

Corporatizing our Elections: (from the Theisen Report) The "disclosure" provisions declare unequivocally that corporations, in league with the EAC, rightfully own and operate the secret counting of the votes in all states.

S. 1487 places control of elections in the hands of four Presidential appointees, who have no direct accountability to the citizens and no oversight. Under this bill, the EAC, in collaboration with corporations, would decide which voting systems would be allowed to count votes. The EAC would establish how many such systems should be available at each poll site and where early voting poll sites should be located. Corporations approved by the EAC would own and operate the proprietary (secret) software that counts the votes. The EAC, in collaboration with those corporations, would determine how to enforce that proprietary ownership. The EAC would determine who is accredited to observe elections.

As always, John Gideon, Executive Director of Voters Unite will give Voice of the Voters listeners a round-up of all the week's voting news.

****************************************************
Voice of the Voters is an hour devoted to voting rights, election reform and voter-verified paper ballots. Ultimately it is an exploration of Representative Democracy itself and the responsibilities of citizens and their elected representatives. It airs every Wednesday night at 8:00 PM ET on 1360 AM and on the Internet at https://wnjc.duxpond.com/.

Note: If you use dial up Internet, it is best to turn off all other programs in order to receive clearest broadcast.

Listeners can call in questions live at 856-227-1360 and submit questions in advance at the SaveOurVote.com website.

Voice of the Voters now also available as a podcast at iTunes.com under "Voice of the Voters" in the News & Politics category.

Archived shows are available at here.

Guest Bios:

Ellen Theisen is founder of VotersUnite.Org and the Co-Director and Managing Editor of VotersUnite! In her 22-year career as a software technical writer, she has written hundreds of user manuals, functional and design specifications, online help systems, and programmer guides. Ellen created and maintains the VotersUnite! website, developing most of the informational resources available on the site.

Early in 2004, Ellen wrote "Myth Breakers for Election Officials" to dispel myths about HAVA and inform decision-makers of important, under-publicized facts about electronic voting issues. The document has been distributed to thousands of federal, state, and local decision-makers, and volunteers are now distributing the second edition. The document has also been included as testimony in three court cases regarding electronic voting issues.

Ellen's work in the voting integrity movement led directly to the development of the Vote-PAD as an accessible alternative to computerized voting devices. During much of 2006, she focused her attention on providing that alternative, and has now resumed developing the resources available at VotersUnite!

Brad Friedman: Aside from being named Time Magazine's 2006 "Person of the Year", Brad is an investigative citizen journalist/blogger, political commentator and broadcaster. He is the Creator and Managing Editor of The BRAD BLOG (https://www.Bradblog.com).

Reports and breaking news from his popular website, The BRAD BLOG, are frequently cited by the national media, and can be read at www.BradBlog.com. He has appeared in numerous documentary films, as well as on ABC News, CNN, CourtTV and elsewhere to discuss his reporting and expertise on a variety of issues.

He's a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post and has written articles and editorials for Mother Jones, Editor & Publisher, ComputerWorld, Columbus Free Press, Salon.com, TruthOut.org, Harvard's Nieman Foundation of Journalism, Hustler and other non-pornographic publications and websites.

In addition to live speaking engagements around the country, Brad has Guest Hosted on a number of radio programs for Peter B. Collins, Mike Malloy, The Young Turks and others. He's also the host of The BRAD SHOW, a radio program co-produced with Internet news site RAW STORY and a frequent Guest on radio shows across the country. More information, online listening links, and archives to previous BRAD SHOW's can be found at www.BradShow.com.

Mary Ann Gould
Coalition for Voting Integrity
votingintegrity@aol.com

Editor's Note: Also see our previous post on the proposed election reform bills currently in Congress.

Next 'We The People': Dynamic Advocacy

WE THE PEOPLE

June 14,  2007 - 6 p.m.

Lively Discussion with Santiago Juarez

Mr. Juarez holds a B.S. from Eastern New Mexico University and a J.D. from the University of Washington. He is an outspoken advocate in the tradition of working-class, community-based political activism.

Live - Channel 27!

Worldwide On The Net!

Click for Streaming Media

https://quote-unquote.org/

Second and Fourth Thursday, 6-7 p.m. Mountain Time

Community Cable Channel 27

Albuquerque, NM

Call-in:  (505) 346-1633

Kindly forward this message to your friends.

TAPE the program if you cannot be present.

WE THE PEOPLE is an innovative call-in television show looking for TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY in local, state and federal governments.

THANKS FOR WATCHING

Mickey Bock/Judith Binder - Hosts