Tag: voting

Notice

If you’re an Oregonian…

Oregon’s Vote-by-Mail Needs You This Weekend!

A bill in the Oregon Legislature (SB 210) that would REPEAL our vote-by-mail system is getting a public hearing on Monday March 31. You’ve all read the news this week – Trump wants to ban mail voting nationwide, and his acolytes are trying to ban it here in Oregon. Submit written testimony OPPOSING this anti-democratic bill in Oregon by Monday morning here:

You can read the bill here:

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/…/Mea…/Overview/SB210

And you can watch the hearing on Monday at 1 PM here:

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/mediaplayer…

You can submit written testimony via this online form system:

Written Testimony Submission Form

Written testimony may be submitted for a bill or executive appointment scheduled for a public hearing or for a topic scheduled for public comment. Testimony must be received within 48 hours after the start time of the committee meeting. If you are not able to submit your testimony during this open record window, you may email your testimony directly to your legislator or to the committee members.

NOTICE: Written testimony is public information and will be posted on the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) website. Personal information in written testimony and in the submission form (except email addresses) is posted to OLIS and accessible to all major search engines, including Google, Bing, and Yahoo. DO NOT include any personal information that you do not want made available to the public, such as your address, phone number, or health history.

Submit written testimony for a public hearing or public comment using the form below.

If you experience technical issues submitting your testimony using this form, please report the issue, via email to testimony.techissues@oregonlegislature.gov
Learn more about submitting testimony.

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Saturda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

I read Raw Story’s coverage of a Daily Beast piece. This was written by Carl Gibson, Alternet.

‘Hugely unpopular’: Columnist flags 5 ways Trump has already ‘failed spectacularly’

Even though he has Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress and Democrats are in the midst of an apparent leadership crisis, President Donald Trump’s second term has so far been a massive failure, according to one columnist.

Even though he has Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress and Democrats are in the midst of an apparent leadership crisis, President Donald Trump’s second term has so far been a massive failure, according to one columnist.

Gibson closed, Rothkopf stressed that while there is a lot of bad news for Democrats, Trump and Republicans have much more to worry about given their lack of success.

I snickered, sighed, and shook my head over this. To me, both pieces normalize what’s going on with PINO Trusk and his regime. Trump is in now. He’s dismantling the government. Stopping spending on anything he declares ‘woke’ or DEI. Terminating anyone and any program that doesn’t align with his prejudices. Dumping on the courts. Blowing up history. Destroying treaties and alliances and wrecking the economy.

He’s deliberately doing these things. He installed thirteen billionaires as cabinet members and has aligned his administration with Putin in Russia. The GOP is now the GOTP. Republican Senators and Representatives are having shouting matches with voters who protest what Trump and Musk are doing, or these Senators and Reps are running and hiding from their constituents. Republicans have shown they’re worried way less than about voters and elections; they’re worried more about falling from Trump’s grace.

In July 2024, former U.S. President Donald Trump told a crowd, “Get out and vote! Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore! Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore.”

With DOGE under Elon Reeve Musk gutting agencies and raiding the nation’s computer systems, accessing everyone’s personal information, do you really think the Trusk Regime is concerned what Trump promised voters? Do you think he’s worried about approval ratings?

No. Trump is in; he has control. Everyone must bow to him.

That’s all that matters to him.

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Tuesday’s Political Thoughts

A blogging friend had a post titled ‘(this)’.

And this is the post.

I have Trump-voting friends who despise him for his character. Educated and intellignt people, they can’t stomach his voice. How he treats others nauseate them. But as he’s promising to give them the one thing which they want, they will suck it in and vote for him.

For a small segment, their vote for him was over social matters. They are against the DEI agenda, which is touted by them as ‘anti-white’. And it’s any effort that recognizes genders or sexes than CIS male and female.

And those books they’re making children read! Like their precious might explode in a puff of pink fuzz if they’re introduced to *gasp* sex of any kind, or learn about unflattering revelations about history, civilization, culture, life. The horrors, the horrors!

Yes, I don’t think much of those who stand against enlightening our children.

Another group is against abortion because their god or their religion. To them, that trumps all others’ rights and freedoms because their god is the on god, the true god, the only god. The rest are just wrong.

They know.

Perhaps most fucking maddening for me are those voting for Trump because they want lower taxes. They have excellent incomes but it’s a struggle to keep up with new car leases, a manse, and those luxury trips. Lower taxes ring their greedy bells.

These people don’t contemplate our society or government beyond their narrow focus. Police state to capture, imprison, and deport people? We hear versions of, “Well, that’s pretty horrible, but it’s not my problem.”

Public education system? Not their problem.

Equal rights and democracy? They wave those concerns away as overblown.

As a friend said after hearing these responses, “If Trump wins, it’ll go to shit and take these people and this country down. When it does, I’m going to get some popcorn and watch. We tried warning them. They wouldn’t listen.”

No, they listen. They just don’t think beyond a tiny, tiny slice of the spectrum of their existence.

Vote blue.

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Just An Aside

Elon Musk, tech guy, doesn’t trust computers.

“I’m a technologist, I know a lot about computers,” Musk told the crowd during the event. “And I’m like, the last thing I would do is trust a computer program, because it’s just too easy to hack.”

This was during his ‘town hall’ meeting in Philadelphia, PA.

Of course, he was referring to debunked information. Didn’t matter to the sheeple he addressed.

Wonder what his company, Tesla thought about it? Aren’t they the ones pushing driverless cars which basically use computers and sensors to safely traverse road and highways? Hell, if the company’s CEO doesn’t trust a computer program, WTF should we?

There’s so much here to unpack about Musk’s state of mind, thinking skills, and choices, not to mention the sheeple out there applauding him. They’re all untethered from reality, as others were quick to note.

In a statement released following Musk’s comment this week, Dominion pointed out the inaccuracies in Musk’s comments, including the fact they don’t operate in Philadelphia and that most jurisdictions do use paper ballots.

“Fact: Dominion does not serve Philadelphia County. Fact: Dominion’s voting systems are already based on voter verified paper ballots. Fact: Hand counts and audits of such paper ballots have repeatedly proven that Dominion machines produce accurate results. These are not matters of opinion. They are verifiable facts,” a Dominion spokesperson said.

On the website of Maricopa County, officials also stated that voting machines in the 2020 election were accurate, writing that a hand count after the election “found zero variances between hand count results and the Dominion tabulation equipment.”

The increasing craziness on the right is deeply unsettling. I don’t think it’ll end with the next election, either. It’s going to take a long time for that lack of thinking to fade away, especially as people like the Heritage Foundation and much of the GOP are working hard to keep it going.

Vote blue in 2024. It’s a matter of sanity.

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Mail Concerns

URGENT! PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS…

I echo the concerns Annie brings up as Jessica Craven noted in her blog, Chop Wood Carry Water.

USPS performance has tumbled since DeJoy’s ascension as Postmaster General. Whether it’s incompetence, the tortured desire to run the USPS as a business and turn a profit, or actual maliciousness for reasons only known in his mind and private circles, deliveries are taking longer, more letters are being returned as undeliverable, and rural post offices and stations have been closed, raising the challenges of doing even the most mundane business at a post office.

It’s a concern going into the elections. Democrats use mail-in ballots more than Republicans. D.J. Trump actively rails against absentee and mail-in voting and is already establishing the foundation to challenge and throw out ballots received via mail.

Reach out to your senators and representatives. Add your voice to these concerns. And vote blue.

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Mood: weatherspeculative

We’re popping in on Saturday, August 17, 2024. Now remember, as a time-traveller, you won’t know anything about the future that you’re from while you’re on the selected travel date, but you will remember it all when you go back. Just want to ensure you understand the parameters.

It’s 66 F in Ashlandia, our destination for today, where the hills are brown and the beers are cold. Today’s high is said to be anywhere from 77 F to 84 F. Though clouds are sparse and small, they’re calling for rain this evening. Some say it’ll be heavy rain. There’s also an extreme fire warning out because thunderstorms with lightning are expected.

The air quality is good for now. No smells of smoke, no hazing of the sky. Super. Worrying that so many wildfires continue burning California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, etc.

Hurricane Ernesto is making landfall in Bermuda. Gonna be rainy with six to nine inches of rain predicted for them.

Colleges are wrestling with how to deal with protestors and free speech over the war in Gaza.

Of course Republicans are calling for probes of Gov. Walz’s China trips. The GOP are so laughably predictable and pathetic, screaming about tit for tat politics as a reason they shut down various measures to enforce ethics and then pursuing tit for tat actions. Funny how they didn’t give a shit about Gov. Walz’s trips until he became selected as Vice President Harris’s running mate. Yeah, they’re funny that way, especially Rep Comer, R-Jackass.

In more backward thinking, Georgia has misguided ideas that having ballots counted three times by hand is the best way forward.

We’re switching themes today, going from dance to colors. That excited The Neurons. Lot of songs with colors in their titles. They immediately fired up “Black Velvet” performed by Alannah Myles from 1989 into the morning mental music stream (Trademark trending). It’s a blues ballad about a young Elvis Presley. Whatever the subject, The Neurons love Myles’s voice and style. Hope you enjoy it.

Be strong and remain positive. Vote Blue in 2024. Coffee has kicked in, so here’s the music. Cheers

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This Is Not A Joke

“Christians, get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, you got to get out and vote.

“In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”

  Donald Trump at Turning Point USA Believers’ Summit, July 26, 2024

“But the Trump campaign claimed the comments were about uniting the country.

“Trump “was talking about uniting this country and bringing prosperity to every American, as opposed to the divisive political environment that has sowed so much division and even resulted in an assassination attempt,” a spokesperson told The Washington Post.“

Yeah. Sure. How would claiming to do away with voting in four years unite a democracy?

That’s some grade A MAGAt horseshit and another revelation of how Trump envisions this going. Trump is delusional. He’s not interested in democracy. He’s not interested in freedom for anyone but himself.

He believes himself great. He believes himself smart.

He wants to be dictator.

And the GOP wants to let him.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Mood: Cuspsized

Fog and a cool 58 F greeted Churchill Valley on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Today’s high will be lucky to break 66 F. Thunderstorms are possible.

Thunderstorms hit us again last night. I was out at my sister’s house for dinner. My BIL was grilling some serious beef, shrimp, and chicken. The smell of rain lingered in the air. Chonky gray clouds cruised overhead.

Rain broke, soft at first, warning shots, but the serious stuff arrive about an hour later. Weather warnings lit the phones. An hour later, the storm had significantly decayed, but I encountered chunks of it while driving home.

I’m on the cusp of heading home. Flight is early tomorrow morning.

My feelings are on a trampoline of reactions. I look forward to being with my wife and fur buds. I look forward to taking on some adulting needs and getting to work on stalled projects.

But I’ll miss Mom and my sisters and BILs, and all the children. Sharing a time zone with them has been very satisfying.

I feel like the nation, even the world, is also on a cusp. Donald Trump’s criminal trial has reached the jury deliberations stage. Analysts, pundits, lawyers, and relatives are all given opinions about the outcome, and why. And then, regardless of the verdict, what’ll happen? We’re on the cusp of finding out.

We’re on summer’s cusp in the northern latitudes. Violent storms have been striking the U.S. Destruction is rising. Travel is disrupted. So are supply chains. 23 are dead in the U.S. People’s power has been cut off. Is this an aberration or the new climate change norm? We’re on cusp of learning.

Israel attacked Rafah on Sunday. ‘All eyes are on Rafah.’ What will happen there next? I’m not arguing the right of Israel to defend itself, the role of the U.S. and other nations, nor the reasons why Hamas launched their attack last October, triggering this latest season of death and destruction. I’m like many, wondering if we’re on the cusp of a greater conflagration.

While we’re at it, Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, and Ukraine fights back. The deaths mount. More NATO resources might get involved. Are we on the cusp of world war? Could this be the cusp of a long-feared nuclear war?

And we’re on the cusp in the U.S. of finding out how extreme the GOP will be to keep people from voting. We’re on the cusp of finding how much of democracy they’re willing to destroy to keep the voters silenced and stay in power.

Looks like we’re on the cusp of a long, historic summer.

Being on the cusp of so many possibilities incited The Neurons to fill the morning mental music (Trademark almost ready) with “Enter Sandman” by Metallic. I can see The Neurons’ reasoning: this summer could be a nightmare, and that’s what the 1991 sound is all ’bout.

Hey, ho, here we go. Be strong, stay safe, be well, and Vote Blue in 2024. Here’s the music video. My coffee tank has already been filled.

Cheers

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Another Tale of…WTF America

Two Cases of Voter ‘Fraud’

“Mr. Pritchard, the Vice Chairman of the Republican Party in Georgia, and who was already a convicted felon for check forgery, voted illegally no less than nine times, for which he was fined $5,000 … a slap on the wrist.”

“Crystal Mason is a convicted felon – convicted of tax fraud, inflating returns for the clients in her tax preparation business.  Having served her sentence, she was out on parole in 2016. Unaware that as a parolee, she was not allowed to vote, Crystal headed to her polling place in Rendon, Texas. When her name failed to appear on the voter rolls, a helpful poll worker gave her a provisional ballot to fill out. No one, including her probation officer, ever told her that being a felon on supervision meant she couldn’t vote under Texas law, so she cast her ballot.  What happened next will stun you …

‘Mason was indicted on a charge of illegal voting in Tarrant County, Tex., last year and found guilty by State District Judge Ruben Gonzalez on Thursday, despite her protestations that she simply was not aware that she was barred from casting a ballot and never would have done it had she known.

Mason was sentenced to five years in prison.”

Both have convictions. But a white Republican male deliberately illegally votes nine times and received a $5,000 fine. This is one of those people screaming about the 2020 election.

And the other person, Black, who accidently tried to vote one time, was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Unbelievable. Really. WTF, America.

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Friday’s Theme Music

Mood: aggroptimstic

Friday, March 15, 2024, has been blessed by abundant sunshine, praise floof. The cats love it except, today was also blessed by gusting winds. Probably something to do with March in the northern hemisphere, right? Although the temperature was already 50 F, the cats eschewed the outside sunshine for the comfort of the sunshine streaming in through the windows in the wind-free living room. The omniscient weather they think today’s high will crest at 66 F. Yesterday’s high was supposed to be 61 F but my corner saw 66 F, so I’m slithering out on that limb and prophesizing a higher high around our place, and I’m not talking THC, either.

I’m eagerly awaiting the results of the Trump family running the RNC. The new co-chairs, Lara Trump (she with the dead eyes) and Michael Whatley, were personally selected by DJ Trump. The Whatley/Trump RNC declared that they’re dedicated to ‘election integrity’.

I wish they’d be more devoted to ‘reality integrity’. If they paid more attention to reality, they’d know that the fraud that DJ Trump pushes about the stolen election has been shown to be bullshit. Over sixty court cases validate the bullshit verdict. Judges of both parties at several levels found there was no evidence to support Trump’s bullshit. State election officials all found no evidence presented to support the stolen election claim. In fact, if the RNC put more reality underfoot, they would discover that former POTUS Trump is indicted for trying to undermine the official, legal, results that resulted in him being shown the WH door.

But the RNC is leading the TBP now, TBP meaning the Trump Bullshit Party. Little of the ‘Republican’ party is visible under the avalanche of Trump-centric garbage being spewed and supported. Sure, the RNC put out a memo to “Grow the Vote”. They expressed interest in getting more voters who don’t show a propensity to vote Republican.

Then they fired sixty people, including the ones running the Black and Hispanic outreach programs.

Frankly, I’m predicting a wobbly, angst driven 2024 TBP which will end with DJ Trump rejected by voters again. A shower of petulant anger, finger pointing, and angst will rise in the aftermath. Lots of lies will be brought up by DJT. He’ll probably claim he won despite all the evidence that he lost, and that he ran the most beautiful campaign ever.

And the TBP will goose step along with his claims, fueling the confusion and polarization on which the TBP thrives. Time will tell us if I’m right. Maybe I’m hopped up on caffeine and have it totally wrong. Hope not.

Today’s music comes from being out back (with Papi, the ginger wonder cat) on the patio this morning. I was considering the sky, which harbored some clouds in the blue sea over my head. Catching on that I was thinking about the sky, The Neurons began playing “Fall on Me” in the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks). The 1986 R.E.M. song is about things falling from the sky, so I can see why The Neurons chose it.

Stay positive, be strong, lean forward, and vote. I’ll do the same after I suck down more coffee. Here’s the music. Cheers

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