Tag Archives: elections

ExCon and the Vote

Ever since the 2000 election in the United States, the fact that in many states ex-convicts are barred from voting, has become somewhat more known.? Rarely covered in the mainstream media, the few investigative reports done on the topic of voter fraud in places like Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, revealed that in several cases, people were taken off of voter rolls and labeled as former convicts.

One related issue that even fewer reports or public figures are brave enough to bring forward is the policies in various US states that keep prisoners, parolees, those on probation and those once convicted of the most minor of offenses, from voting.? In 10 US states people who have served their sentences and are now out of prison, not on parole or probation, are kept from voting for life.? As incarcerated citizens are often stigmatized regardless of their crime or if they’ve already completed their sentence, it would seem the average citizen doesn’t care or see them as deserving of equal rights once they’re back in society.? Which translates to very little political pressure to change this policy that so many states have.

On a recent edition of The State We’re In, this was exactly the topic that was explored. Specifically the program looked into how ex-cons feel about not having that right. And, for those who do, what importance they give to having that right. What interested me most was when they briefly touched on studies that have shown that when ex-cons return to society and have their right to vote restored, this can have the effect of making them feel more part of society and responsible for what happens in their community.? Click the link above and listen to the segment, a very important question that hardly any people in positions of power are willing to ask.

National Self Esteem

There is no shortage of blog posts and online commentary about the US elections right now.? Despite being dedicated to under reported news, today I’m going to add just a little more to this excessively covered, global concern.

There is this long tradition in the United States that during presidential elections, candidates constantly play the patriotic card and use variations of these slogans:

The US has the greatest workforce in the world.

The US is the greatest force for good in the world.

The US is the greatest country in the world.

Yet anyone who studies history or labor statistics will find plenty of evidence contrary to these statements. Actually you don’t even have to study anything, regardless of country, when you read those statements you should recognize they aren’t true.? Yet election after election, the two mainstream ruling parties say these three over and over.

Watching speeches and debates between Obama and McCain or Biden and Palin, all of them make sure to spew these empty lines as if they’re trying to appease some segment of the audience that despite all logic and facts to the contrary, want to believe this is true.

Thankfully there are countries in the world were candidates don’t do this. Smaller countries, older countries that have weathered mass destruction and extreme poverty, they don’t bother repeating mantras about being the best and the greatest in the world.? Even the Finnish national anthem is about being one nation among many great nations of the world.

I wonder if I will live to see a major candidate in the US that finally stops pandering to jingoism and a mass superiority complex.? Besides being inaccurate, these types of statements help validate and continue destructive and failed policies and practices. I also hope this tradition doesn’t spread further in the world. Of course nationalism is not simply an American phenomenon and it isn’t going to disappear. But this rhetoric of we are the best, we are always right, everything we do is good; if a country is ever going to get better and a candidate make a real change, this practice will have to end.

Manipulation Through Nationalism

Watching video of last week’s Iowa Caucuses on the Uptake, it left me severely disturbed to watch as people stand in a room and yell at each other about which candidate is best. They scream and shout and hardly anyone listens and they spout rhetoric that anyone could have heard from the candidate themselves over the past year. They use adjectives to praise a candidate who they think they know, “honest”, “determined”, “strong”, “experienced”… naturally it is the same list people have been using since the feudal days when the king and queen were the most suited to lead us thanks to their nobility and wisdom.

Meanwhile I gather what information I can on the situation in Kenya, where people are also dedicated to their candidate. Questionable election results, a familiar theme throughout the planet, lead to supporters of the opposition taking to the streets. Police are dispatched with little concern for the safety or rights of citizens , demonstrators are shot and killed. Elsewhere one group that supports one candidate targets the other group that supports the other candidate, they attack with weapons and whatever they can get their hands on. They’re convinced that their guy should have won; they believe so strongly in a person they think they know, they’re willing to kill or be killed for him.

Famous and Infamous people have said, throughout history, that nationalism is one of the most dangerous forces on earth. With the power to make people hate each other, convinced that their cause, their flag, their candidate.. is the answer. And when he or she occasionally gets power and then does nothing, they find another to support, re-directing their blind loyalty.. or maybe they stick with their incompetent leader no matter how bad it gets… as if they are required to by some natural law.

Whether they are yelling at each other in a room in Iowa, torturing people in Guantanamo, beating and burning each other alive in Kenya, or rigging election results in Georgia to help a western-friendly oil man stay president, it is all a very cruel and dangerous game. Cruel because those in power use people… they use people’s lives.. people are expendable to them. Dangerous because beyond the yelling comes hatred. After the hatred can come violence. And from violence comes more violence that can and will tear countries, regions, and the world apart. All in the name of what people like to call democracy…. all in the name of some candidate who swears he or she can fix all that is wrong with the society we live in, and the lives so many people feel trapped in.

bm199 What these Elections Will Do To France

Media coverage of the French elections has spiraled into the typical who looks tougher who will lose reporting, as is the norm for mainstream media today. But there are real policies that will harm or help real people throughout and France, depending on the outcome. In this podcast, with the help of Chris of Americablog and Jessica in London, we will identify what changes will come and what it means for French, as well as the effect on Europe.

I recommend Chris’s latest post on round 1 election results
Also Mentioned: Opendemocracy.net

We Discuss:
-The top issues that will HAVE to change regardless of who’s elected
-The economy and jobs
-The 35 hour work week
-The green movement, or lack there of
-The Health system
-Transport
-Selling “American Style” to the French
-Racism as an election tool
-Europe Union issues

 

Privacy, Voting Computers, and Insanity

They actually didn’t cover the insanity part, but that just comes automatic.

I’ve never seen so many laptops in my life.

As one strolls the outside-conference environment, you may encounter the many different collectives of the Chaos Communication Congress. In this corner, with laptop and internet cable strewn everywhere, it’s the mesh network kids. Over there, below the wikimedia banner, a bunch of people are allegedly working for wikipedia. (maybe they can un-ban me, those bastards) Down the hall, its the Deck phone guys who do cool shit with phones. I can’t even get into the lockpickers, lego-robotics, RFID mapping, and solar robot creating corners. It’s all just too much. I get tired very quickly as the senses are overloaded with this creative energy that bursts from every corner.

If you come to a hacker conference.. one thing not to forget.. which I just happen to have… ethernet cable. Its important. Take that bit of wisdom with you, free-o-charge.

As the evening wound down, after a whole day of god knows what, I found myself in this room, (photo taken yesterday, tonight it was bustling with people), sitting next to Rop who just slammed home a presentation on the Dutch voting computer battle (which I covered in my podcast way back when), drinking ze beers with Catarina.. who taught me all kinds of hacker history and general communication factoids this evening. She also awarded me with a rare PRess Pass… yehaw.

All this is my excuse for not doing a podcast or a vlog tonight. Too much to tell.. too much to do.. and the night is almost over… so I’ll get on it tomorrow, at some point.

I’ve said it alot lately, but this conference is one of those things in life.. not to be missed and not likely to be forgotten.

bm168 Verona Italy and Voter Turnouts

Not the usual podjournalism as I’m on the road. This time coming to you from the riverside in Verona, Italy. The sun is setting and I talk about a little history of the city and I get into voter turnout numbers following yesterday’s Dutch elections.
Next Stop: Ljubjana, Slovenia. But first, a few hours in Venice with Madge Weinstein.

The Voter Turnout Surveys That I Sort of Refer To
dutch Elections