Texas Two Step Disenfranchisement-will it “sinkin”?
“If a 95-year-old stalwart can’t fully participate in the voting process, is it a system worth keeping?”
The Story of 95-year-old Bill Sinkin
December 23, 2008 by End the Texas Two Step
[To those Texas Democrats who — incredibly — still believe their cumbersome “two-step” primary voting process is a good idea, consider the story of 95-year-old Bill Sinkin.
For 66 years, Sinkin had been one of your precinct chairmen in San Antonio — one of your party’s biggest cheerleaders and most loyal activists…..]
Somalia has 30 days to elect a new President. Yusef only had control over “a few blocks in a country the size of Texas”. Somalia is heir to tribal feuding, fragmentation, losing it’s little tropical forest, under 2% arable land, loss of fishing and signs of radiation poisoning due to illegal dumping of toxic waste and stirred up by the Tsunami in 2004, and businesses printing their own money. It also has largely unexploited mineral reserves including natural gas, copper, and possibly oil. The hope is, that by Yusef’s resignation, an opportunity for more moderate Islamists to cooperate will occur.
Amid growing international pressure, Somalia’s president resigns
Widely considered an obstacle to peace, Abdullahi Yusuf announced his resignation on Monday.
By Jonathan Adams
posted December 29, 2008 at 9:50 am EST
[The president of Somalia resigned Monday, in a move that analysts say could help bring stability to the war-ravaged, failed state.
Abdullahi Yusuf, a former warlord, took office amid high hopes in 2004 as the first president of a United Nations-backed transitional government. But during his term he was unable to extend the government’s writ much farther than the capital….]
This is the most depressing article I’ve read in long time. That we would blithely be able to call this world “Post Fact” is bad enough. The trust issue is worse. I’m not sure if I want to read the mentioned book! However, I suppose just like in this article, the two go hand in hand. By the way, as a minor note to the comment in the article, Farhad Manjoo left Salon for Slate in July, 2008.
No one left to trust?
By TRACY DINGMANN 12/19/08 4:23 PM
I’ve been lucky enough to have some time off lately, and I’ve been using the respite from work to catch up on my reading.
At the library the other day, I picked up a book that’s since held me transfixed with its simple explanation of many of the cataclysmic societal changes we’ve already seen — and its accuracy in describing some to come.
http://newmexicoindependent.com/13199/when-facts-arent-facts-anymore
I especially liked the mentioned idea of making documents available.
Western wish list for Obama
The hopes and worries of 11 key Westerners
NEWS – From the December 22, 2008 issue of High Country News
By Ray Ring
[Leaders of the big green groups are talking behind the scenes with President-elect Barack Obama and his staffers and advisors. The Obama camp has encouraged the dialogue, reaching out months ago for recommendations about how to clean up the George W. Bush mess and move forward on environmental issues.
In the final days of his administration, Bush is trying to dismantle as many environmental regulations as possible, weakening everything from the Endangered Species Act to the definition of organic salmon (to allow industrial farmed salmon to carry the label)….]
Someone always profits, even if it’s not clear at first whom.
Shoes flung at Bush flying from shelves
An Istanbul cobbler capitalizes on the ‘shoe mania’ sparked by the tossing of his work.
By Yigal Schleifer | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the December 29, 2008 edition
I[STANBUL, Turkey – For the past 10 years, model 271 has been the bestseller of Ramazan Baydan’s Ducati line of shoes. It’s got all the attributes of a workhorse – affordable and durable, chunky, yet presentable. To these winning qualities, now add another one: throwable….]
I Own My Vote, PUMA, The Denver Group, The New Agenda
Grab and Keel 
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