An Open Email To T.J. Maxx Re: Selling Products Known To Cause Cancer, Birth Defects, Reproductive Harm...

(An Open Email To Retailer T.J. Maxx Re:
Selling Products Known To Cause Cancer, Birth Defects and/or Reproductive Harm:)

Dear T.J. Maxx:

First, let me say this: "I Love Shopping at T.J. Maxx!".

That said, I'd also like to add:

"WHY does T.J. Maxx sell any products that include the following warning:

"WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm."?

Er, Hello?  If something's 'known to cause cancer AND birth defects OR other reproductive harm' in the State of California, you can bank on the fact that it's going to cause those same life-threatening health risks in the other 49 states.

So, I must ask you: WHY are you stocking them on T.J. Maxx's shelves and on the T.J. Maxx website?

There are more than enough items available that do not contain potentially lethal chemicals in them to fill those places.

Please Note: Including the Prop. 65 Warning does NOT relieve T.J. Maxx's of any responsibility if those items acknowledged to be toxic are purchased from T.J. Maxx and then, God forbid, cause cancer, birth defects and/or other reproductive harm in your customers.

Especially, if those poor souls don't live in California and, therefore, aren't even offered the warning about the potentially life-threatening dangers contained within them.

For Example: I was going to buy a pair of Betsey Johnson sunglasses from the T.J. Maxx website (see image above) - until I (thankfully) saw that warning. The thought that - had I not seen or been presented with that warning - I'd have bought the sunglasses and worn them on my face is horrifying!

(*Please know that I'm not excusing Betsey Johnson, nor whomever is in charge of licensing her name, nor any other company or celebrity who allows these sorts of (unnecessarily) toxic products to be produced in their names... and purely for additional profit.)

To me, this all comes down to taking Personal Responsibility for your personal and business decisions/actions as well as for the good (or the harm) that you cause to other people, living things and/or to the World because of them.

I look forward to hearing from you and I'm sincerely interested in hearing your honest response to my inquiry..

Thank you very much!

Open Email To Whole Foods Market / Caveat Emptor: Read The Fine Print!

Hello Whole Foods Market:

I am a loyal Whole Foods Market customer in San Francisco, California.

I'm contacting you about "Product Standards" because I found something disturbing buried in the fine print on the label of a sample of a dietary supplement product that you carry in (at least some of) your stores:

Product: Irwin Naturals "Brain Awake" Liquid Soft Gels.

On the tri-fold label, at the bottom of the "Supplement Facts", is the following:

"WARNING (State Of California Prop 65) This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm."

Now, as I received this sample from a Whole Foods Market Store in California and as Whole Foods Market proudly makes the claim of: "America's Healthiest Grocery Store", I found this item particularly disturbing.

Not to mention the fact that I have excellent eyesight and don't require/wear glasses or contacts.  Still, there's a variety of small-sized fonts on the label, but this CA Prop 65 Warning is in the smallest one of them all.  Therefore, even I couldn't have read that line without the use of a magnifying glass.

Considering how many people wear glasses, I'm quite sure the vast majority of Whole Foods Market customers who may have picked up the same Brain Awake sample as I did would be unable to read the fine print - including this warning - and would, undoubtedly, ingest the gel caps because they were from Whole Foods Market and, well, WFM wouldn't offer anything that might be harmful to a woman, her unborn child or her reproductive system, would they?

Fortunately, I've paid close attention to health/diet/product/supplement news and I've done enough research so that I know better than to trust the FDA's approval or any product manufacturer's well-thought out label at face value.  Health-conscious individuals must be their own best advocates, read the labels of everything and know what ingredients are as well as their safety/efficacy (or lack thereof).

There's a serious problem, though,. when the print on a label is so tiny as to require the use of a magnifying glass to read it.

And, there's an enormous problem when a grocery store that claims to be "America's Healthiest" is offering products with a CA Prop 65 Warning buried in the tiny print of that label which warns of "... birth defects and other reproductive harm"... but no one can be - conceivably - expected to be able to read it.

Do you know if there are other products on your shelves with the same (or similar) warning(s)?  How many of them are in such tiny-sized letters as to be, virtually, illegible?  If there are, how many are there?  Why would WFM agree to sell such products, especially in California?

At the very least, shouldn't WFM have a large, easy-to-read sign displayed in its Supplement Departments to inform WFM customers that some of the dietary supplement products WFM offers for purchase may contain ingredients known to the State of California to cause BIRTH DEFECTS or OTHER REPRODUCTIVE HARM?!

I see pregnant women shopping in WFM every day.  So, reading this warning on one of your products - but only with the aid of a magnifying glass - bothers me.  I sincerely hope it bothers you., too.  Are you going to do anything about this?

Please respond ASAP.  I look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you.

F.Y.I. Paradise, California: It's OPEN SEASON On CIVILIANS? (DashCam Video)

Caught On Police Car Dash-Cam:
(See link to video below)

Paradise, CA:  Piece Of SH*T police officer Patrick Feaster arrives at the scene of a car accident just at the driver is climbing out of the broken window (vehicle had landed on it's side, so window was on top).

He casually un-holsters his service weapon, takes aim... and, then, SHOOTS The ACCIDENT VICTIM In The Neck!  (No Joke. It's On Video.)

Feaster, then, casually re-holsters his service weapon as the accident/shooting victim flops over - like a freaking 5-point buck!

What the video Doesn't Show:
Officer Feaster doesn't report that he'd discharged his weapon to anyone - not to his fellow officers who arrived on the scene, not to medics who arrived and not to his superiors.

11 Minutes pass - with the accident/shooting victim bleeding - before anyone realizes the accident victim has a GUNSHOT WOUND!

(Reports now say, he's alive, but may be paralyzed for life.)

Icing On The "Open Season On Civilians" Cake:Officer Feaster's shooting of the Accident Victim Is Declared "ACCIDENTAL" and Officer Piece of Sh*t is Cleared of ANY Wrongdoing and is still on the job!

(Watch the video (link below) and ask yourself: "Do you feel safer? Well, do you?")

'Accidental'?  No Charges In Police Shooting Of Accident Victim.

PUBLIC NOTICE:

This Is To Inform You That:

Police Officers Are Going To Continue MURDERING Unarmed Civilians...
BECAUSE...

Police Officers Who MURDER Unarmed Civilians KEEP GETTING AWAY IT! 

HELL-THA-FCK-O: ACCOUNTABILITY, Much?

A Conservative State - Utah - Solved Chronic Homelessness And Saved Millions!

Hey, California Governor Jerry Brown!!!

LOOK AT THIS:

"“If you want to end homelessness, you put people in housing,” Walker said in an interview. “This is relatively simple.”"
"... what has been perhaps the nation’s most successful — and radical — program to end chronic homelessness.

Now, more than a decade later, chronic homelessness in one of the nation’s most conservative states may soon end.  And all of it is thanks to a program that at first seems stripped from the bleeding-heart manual.

In 2005, Utah had nearly 1,932 chronically homeless.  By 2014, that number had dropped 72 percent to 539. Today, explained Gordon Walker, the director of the state Housing and Community Development Division, the state is “approaching a functional zero.”

Here's the link to the New York Post Article: Enjoy!

The Surprisingly Simple Way Utah Solved Chronic Homelessness And Saved Millions Of Dollars

Early Morning Shakes: California Earthquake 6.0

Shake, Rattle and Roll...

We just had a significant earthquake in California!  Hit about 3:20 am.  Earliest USGS guess is 6.0.  It had a strong back-and-forth swing to it and lasted about 7  seconds.  Don't know if it caused any major damage or injuries or fatalities, yet.  Hope not...

"Shake Out. Don't Freak Out." Was Brought To You Today By The State AND Cali, Herself.

Today, Thursday October 20, 2011, at 10:20 am California held its statewide "Great California Shake-Out" to remind Californians that: A.) We live in earthquake country. and B.) What they should do before, during and after an earthquake.

Then, at 2:41 pm today, Thursday October 20, 2011: Mother Nature hosted an earthquake in the vicinity of Berkeley (3.9 to 4.1 magnitude) to remind us that we live in earthquake country, etc., etc.

Needless to say, we were shaking here in San Francisco...

My Thoughts On The Mid-Term Results (& All Other Cases Where Countless People Voted As If They Were Insane)

Hurray ~ The Mid-Term Elections Are Over!!
(Ugh...) Where the heck are my meds?! :P
(Hey you - Where's that "Happy Face"? That's better. Cheerfully, now.)
"Cheerfully"? ...(Big Sigh.) You've gotta be kiddin' me...
(Come on. Big Smile.) "Big what?" Oh... O.K. Here goes:
D'ya know what I honestly think...
I think that - to a great extent - what we see with the results of the 2010 Mid-Terms and in every previous election where people were conned, yet again, into voting for oil-slick candidates who enjoyed lots of financial backing, but have simply no genuine interest in (nor measurable history of) doing what's right for America and most Americans (the wealthiest among us do not fit into the category of "most Americans")...
Is Exactly What We Deserve.

This is what do-gooders get for all of the incessant - albeit good-intentioned - interfering we do with Good Ol' (Older & Much Wiser) Mother Nature's (It Ain't Broke, So Don't Fix It) "Survival Of The Fittest" Law.

Yes, people... it's a little something called "Evolution".
I hear tell that God came up with it. The concept behind it was that it weeded out those members of each species who - for whatever reason(s) simply lacked the abilities, intelligence and basic common sense that is required to survive - if left to their own devices in the world.  T'wasn't anything personal about it.. It made sense and it worked - for eons - making each species stronger and healthier as a whole.

Then, along comes humanity... and compassionate-minded people... and people terrified of getting sued by idiots who don't seem to comprehend that hot coffee is hot; knife/saw/ax blades are sharp; standing on the top rung of a ladder is unwise; riding on top of the roof of/in the bed of a truck at high speeds is dangerous; messing with wild animals is hazardous to your health; etc.

Going out of our way to Protect stupid, reckless, dangerous people from themselves and each other...
Simply is Not doing humanity any favors.  In doing so, we've gummed up/thrown a monkey wrench/sabotaged the natural means of promoting the survival of our species at its healthiest.

The Results of doing so:
1.) Yeah, sure - We feel better about ourselves. We feel like we're being "Good" People... Like we're doing the "Right Thing". (I used to feel the same way.)
And, on the surface, perhaps we are.

But, in the long run... We are killing ourselves, slowly, very (and aggravatingly) slowly:
2.) We're drowning in an ocean of other (equally) well-meaning people who - sadly - aren't quite bright enough to keep a seat warm (or, at least, to know when they're being bamboozled, flim-flammed & lied to) and who - tragically, for us all  - Vote.
(*Not a judgment. Just an objective and honest observation - albeit, perhaps not explained as well as I'd have liked.)

*On a Much Happier Note*
Hurray ~ Jerry Brown(D) was elected Governor of California (again)!
Governor Brown's opponent - the former head of eBay: Meg Whitman (R) - actually had spent @ $78 Million of her (apparently) endless fortune to both spin the Republican Base & to win the Republican Primary.
Then, Meg dropped another (mind-boggling) $70-80 Million trying to buy herself the Governor's Office.
Er, I mean... Trying to beat Good Ol' Jerry B.
Governor Brown's Sizable Trouncing Of & Victory Over (utilizing a vastly smaller "war chest") Meg's $160+ Millions proves that - at least in my Beloved California - voting Americans aren't as easily duped as in other places and - equally important - The Ones With The Most Money DON'T Always Win.
(Thanks Be.)
L.

Really Good Tuesday, Bleary-Eyed Happy Wednesday: PG&E's Prop.16 Defeated

Greeting From The Golden State!

Just prior to this Tuesday's Primary in Cali, I'd been blogging and posting items around the 'net to emphasize the importance that voters in our beloved California understand the Truth behind Proposition 16 and, hopefully, upon learning said Truth... vote against it.

CA Proposition 16 was framed, written and financially-sponsored - to the tune of $46 Million (In the words of sarah palin: "I kid you not.") - by that big ol' monopolizing, corporate parasite: PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric).

And, although the shockingly expensive campaign's goal - with it's targeted, shiny & colorful mailings that resembled Green Party mailings and contained references to "Green Energy" (which PG&E has shown virtually no genuine interest in developing voluntarily) and it's endless barrage of TV commercials with their over-the-top sense of urgency and indignant cries from the actors, babbling about "... government taking away our rights!" - was to sell Prop. 16 as (get this): "The Voter's Right To Choose Act"... This legislation, if passed, would have actually taken away Californians Right To Choose/opt for Public-Owned Power/Green Energy suppliers instead of PG&E by changing the CA State Constitution so that it would require a 2/3 majority ballot vote - something PG&E well knew would have been impossible to achieve - and thereby cementing their fossil fuel-focused, power-supplying monopoly across the state for perpetuity.

Recent events in our beloved Marin County undoubtedly contributed to lighting a fierce fire under PG&E's sizable buttocks and motivating them to do whatever was necessary to achieve their goal of maintaining their monopoly of supplying energy in California.

Thousands of those fine folks unceremoniously dumped PG&E... Opting, instead, to answer the door when Opportunity came a'knocking.

My Warmest Welcome and Greetings to: "Marin Clean Energy", California's First Public Power Agency.

"Marin Clean Energy, a Community Choice Aggregation Program, is an alternative to PG&E and other utility companies. It allows electricity consumers to choose nonpolluting, renewable energy.

The Community Choice Aggregation program was established by the State Legislature in 2002 to give cities and counties the ability to procure electricity on behalf of its customers."
(From:ktvu.com)

Despite Marin County's achievement, needless to say, fighting Prop. 16 looked to be an uphill battle from the start...

It was going be PG&E's not just deep, but bottomless pockets VS a truly rag-tag pseudo-assemblage of citizens across California, many of whom immediately - upon hearing the "Yes on 16" TV ad for the first time - smelled a big, fossil-fueled, money-lusting rat... namely PG&E.

The No On Prop. 16 Campaign wasn't nearly as well-organized as the mega-bucks corporate monopoly... Still, there were countless individuals and small groups of Californians whom passionately spread the Good Word/The Real Truth about Prop. 16.

And, as it turned out, the "No on 16" Campaign utilized the proven tools of the internet effectively: Groups of concerned citizens of many sizes posted videos on YouTube: Groups like: "BayLocalize" - a rocking group whom posted the Fabulous Music Video you'll find below, which they'd filmed on the steps of the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) - it's a catchy "NO on Prop. 16" message in song and an adaptation of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive") and "NoOnProp16" - whom posted a number of videos with footage of local and network news attention... my favorite of theirs being the $30-Budgeted Mash-up video of "man-on-the-street" real people conversations about Prop. 16, which is also below.

Some groups built pages on Facebook... "Vote No On Prop 16" for example, and they soon discovered that someone had hacked into their Facebook account, commandeered their Facebook ID's and then falsely and fraudulently posted their individual names followed by the statement: "Likes Prop. 16". (Those Bastards!).

And a variety of people - myself included - posted the Truth About Prop. 16 whenever and wherever the opportunity arose.

BayLocalize's "I Will Survive - No On Prop 16":



NoOnProp16's "Mash-Up People On The Streets Interview":



All of You Guys and Grrls Against Prop. 16 Rocked... and You Rocked The Vote!

Heading towards the Finish Line, the "No on 16" Campaign had raised a total of no more than $90,000 to fight the evil, entrenched, energy empire. Unlike PG&E, they couldn't afford a barrage of slick TV ads all across California. Nor could they afford to print and send out many thousands of targeted, shiny, multi-colored mailings on photographic paper.

But the No On 16 Campaign had The Truth on its side.

Thankfully, those against Prop. 16 had a healthy amount of internet access/savvy and know-how.

Individually and in groups, we were all committed to working - when we could - to get the word out about PG&E's lies.

To tell our friends and neighbors and communities about how PG&E was blowing the equivalent of the Gross National Product of a small country to spread their lies and deceit... to incessantly hammer their B.S. across the airwaves.

And, do you know WHY they dumped so much damn money into Prop. 16?

PG&E sank $47 Million into Prop. 16 because that mega-bucks, money-grubbing monopoly thinks so little of all of their hard-working customers that they are convinced that we Californians are Stupid.

PG&E thinks we Californians are so stupid, in fact, that they were sure that if they constantly flashed their lies at our eyes and blasted them at our ears enough times... that we'd start to believe that the lies they were telling were the truth.

Kinda makes one a bit... I dunno... Angry?

Many citizens also began to pressure some better-known CA elected officials to get them to speak out against Prop. 16 (which, in some cases, finally worked - although they sent their representatives... but, hey, they're busy people, too.)

And, heck, at this point... I'd even say we had The Force on our side.

These were only "Primaries" and only being held in 12 states, so many talking heads on TV repeatedly mentioned "low voter turnout" as a real possibility... which might not bode well for the "NO on 16" Campaign.

And, it wasn't really what some mis-labeled as a "Super Tuesday", a term historically used for Presidential Elections.

Pointing this out, Rachel Maddow (Love Her), instead, called it "Really Good/Pretty Good Tuesday" throughout her coverage.

I voted. (Hope you did, too!)

Then, I stayed up late watching Rachel's election results coverage. The last local mention I'd seen was that Prop. 16 was losing... though not by much.

The next morning, on "Bleary-Eyed Wednesday"... I hopped out of bed and onto the internet in search of the Prop. 16 Official Results...

Strangely enough... the results of the vote didn't pop-out right away. They weren't on the homepages for a few local news station websites - well, at least not the Propositions.

And then, I found it...

Oh Beautiful, Happy Day!

Somewhat remarkably, PG&E's deceitful, democracy-damaging, $46 Million Proposition 16 Campaign had gone down in Flames of Defeat!

Approximately... The No Votes: 52%. The Yes Votes: 48%.

(I later found out that the vast majority of the more TV ad gullible folks live in Southern and Central CA. ie - San Bernardino County. Thanks, CA Dept. of Elections website.)

This, my fellow Californians, was an upset of Biblical Proportions!

"David Slays Goliath... Again!"

That said, in the Republican Primary for the Governor's Race, the choice was, unfortunately, between two evils.

And, one of those two evils, Meg Whitman - unqualified, unsuitable, inexperienced and unPR-savy as she could be - sank $71 Million (not a typo) of her own fortune into a barrage of attack ads against her opponent, Steve Poizner, the CA State Insurance Commissioner.

And, Whitman won. (Ugh.)

But, hey... No worries whatsoever!

November's a long way's away.

And, the Honorable Mr. Jerry Brown will be the Democratic Party's candidate for Governor.

He's experienced... Heck, he's already been Governor of California... you can't get more qualified/better experience for the office than that!

Also... Let's remember: One battle at a time.

In the big picture, in This Battle... Californians Won!

As I had stated in a variety of items that I posted:

"PG&E can take their $46 Million and shove it!"

"You (PG&E and anyone else) cannot buy our Democracy!"*

*Unless you're Meg Whitman, have $100's of Millions in a vast personal fortune, are bound and determined to buy your way into elected office and are damn lucky.

Albeit such an unfortunate result is only a one-time thing.

And, putting all her eggs (and her $71 Million) into this Primary was Meg's one-shot, Thankfully.

We can all hope...

We can also actively organize; volunteer; contact friends, family, neighbors; form groups in our communities; post videos; create webpages; dig up dirt on ol' Meg...

We can do Everything we Californians did to Successfully Defeat PG&E, Defend our State Constitution and our Democracy from a corrupt, corporate take-over, and then some.

We defeated PG&E, people.

We Can Do Anything!

Peace.
L.

Vote 2010: California Proposition 16 and Proposition 17: Just Say No Way!

... Surprise!
Yes, I'm back.
I do apologize for being MIA for however long it's been.

And, because You're Worth It, rather than offering an explanation...
I prefer to offer something much more worth your time and attention...

The Truth, The Whole Truth & Nothing But The Truth.
And, What A Timely... Nay... What An Urgent Truth At That.

And what is The Truth, you might ask?

The Truth, dear friends and neighbors is this...

PG&E is at it... Again!

And, as hard as it may be to believe... this time, it's even worse.

In the past, when the visionary concept of "Public-Owned/Locally-Produced Power" had successfully reached inclusion on the list of Propositions to be voted on by Californians... In the months prior to the day when people would be heading to their polling places, PG&E would spend tens of millions of dollars on a perpetual barrage of slick TV-ad campaigns and glossy mass-mailings - all of which had been finely-tuned and choreographed by PG&E's well-paid sound-bite/spin-meisters.

Without hesitation, PG&E spent truckloads of money on these guileful commercials.
Their self-serving goal being this: to convince California's Public-at-Large that "Public Power" was "Public Enemy #1".

And sadly, at each of those times, their mega-million dollar mis-information campaigns worked.

You'd think PG&E would be content with that kind of record.

They're not.

Nope... Not PG&E ("Pathological Greed & Exaction").

In this, their most recent Anti-Competition Campaign, the monstrous power-monopoly has actually spent $35-$45 million in an attempt to convince Californians to vote In Favor a Proposition... Proposition 16, to be exact.

The difference between then and now is this:
Proposition 16 - referred to as "The Taxpayer's Right To Vote Act" in the TV spots - was written and created by PG&E!

Please don't be fooled by the indignant cries - not coming from concerned Californians, but from Paid Actors - of:
"And, we don't even have the right to vote on it!".

Hooey!

I've studied the situation.
I've done my due diligence of Following The Money:
Finding out who paid to saturate the airwaves with the ads.
Figuring out who has the most to gain if Prop. 16 passes.

And, yes, there is a conspiracy going on here.
But, it's not the government power-grab conspiracy that PG&E wants you to believe.
It's actually just another PG&E Power-Grab.
A Corporate Conspiracy to change California's State Constitution to fend off the threat that the increasingly popular public power-option and green-energy will likely be to their monopoly and their mind-boggling profits.

My fellow Californians:
Please don't let PG&E get away with pulling the wool over people's eyes again.

Please talk with your friends and neighbors about The Truth.
Prop. 16 was written by PG&E.
Passing Prop. 16 would only serve PG&E by re-writing California's State Constitution to prevent the utility having to face competition from other energy providers and (gasp!) offer more competitive rates to customers.
It would perpetuate their massive fossil fuel-based energy monopoly, their virtually non-existent green-energy development and their perpetually rubber-stamped rate increases.

Spread The Good Word:
PG&E Can Take Their $35-$45 Million and Shove It...
Our Democracy Is Not For Sale!

Vote NO On Proposition 16!

Peace,
L.

Enjoy this great article on the issue from The San Francisco Bay Guardian:

From: The San Francisco Bay Guardian Newspaper

The Danger Of Propositions 16 and 17
04.20.10 - 1:28 pm
Guardian Staff Writers

"The problem here is not just two awful laws - it's the idea that a single company, with loads of cash, can utterly subvert the basic premise of Democracy."

EDITORIAL:

The California Democratic Party voted at its statewide convention April 17 to oppose Propositions 16 and 17.

The San Francisco Chronicle — no friend of public power and consumer rights — endorsed strongly against both measures April 18.

In fact, most major newspapers and civic groups have come out against what amounts to the most blatant attempt in California history by a pair of big corporations to buy favorable legislation at the ballot box.

And for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Mercury Insurance, none of that matters much.

This campaign is all about money — big gobs of money — and PG&E and Mercury have it and their opponents, so far, don't.

And if that doesn't change in the next few weeks — if Democratic Party leaders, starting with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer — don't immediately start making the defeat of these two measures a priority, California will send a signal to every big corporate interest in the world that its laws and policies are for sale.

Proposition 16 is being sold — in slick TV ads and mailers so deceptive they can only be called intentional lies — as giving the voters the right to have a say before local government gets into the business of selling electricity. The proposition, one PG&E flyer notes, "is our best protection against government spending your money to get into a business they [sic] know nothing about."

Actually, government knows a lot about the electricity business.

All over California, public power agencies offer better service and lower rates than the private utilities (see: PG&E).

Nationwide, residents of more than 2,000 communities have public power — and few want to give it up and return to buying electricity from private utilities.

But that's not the point. Prop. 16 exists entirely because PG&E wanted to stop competition.

PG&E has spent at least $35 million of its money to pass a law that would require a two-thirds vote (a nearly insurmountable obstacle) before any local agency can offer or expand local electricity service.

The Chronicle, which has always opposed public power in San Francisco, argues that "Californians should be skeptical of any local government's claim that it can deliver cheaper and cleaner power than an established utility. But they should be at least as wary when that monopoly utility wants to deprive them of that choice."

Proposition 17 is another blatant single-interest measure, sponsored and underwritten entirely by one giant insurance company, to change the way car insurance is regulated in California.

It would, among other things, allow insurers to raise rates for people who don't already have coverage. Give up your car for a year (because you lost your job and couldn't afford it, or decided that you could commute just as well by bicycle, or for any other reason) and the next time you buy insurance, your rates could soar — even if your driving record was clean.

The problem here is not just two awful laws — it's the idea that a single company, with loads of cash, can utterly subvert not only the intent of California's initiative law but the basic premise of Democracy.

PG&E and Mercury were unable to get the state Legislature to do what they wanted, so they hired campaign consultants, paid millions for people to gather signatures on petitions, put the self-serving measures on the ballot, and are now flooding airwaves and mailboxes with well-crafted, effective lies.

If they succeed, what's going to stop every other sleazy big-money interest from doing the same?

Well, right now, nothing.

It's absolutely critical, both for the issues of public power and consumer rights and for the fundamental notion that you can't simply buy a new law, that Props. 16 and 17 are defeated.

But we're not seeing a lot of evidence that any of the most influential people in California are taking this seriously.

State Sen. Mark Leno has done tremendous work in getting the state party to oppose Prop. 16. Assembly Member Tom Ammiano has been working nonstop in Sacramento to try to get some money into the No on 16 coffers. San Francisco Sup. Ross Mirkarimi has led the statewide organizing efforts. And San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera joined a lawsuit to invalidate the law.

But in all the speeches and public statements that Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Attorney General Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. candidates Janice Hahn and Gavin Newsom, party chair John Burton, and others delivered at the state party convention, there was nary a mention of the fundamental importance of voting NO on 16 and 17. None of the people who are capable of raising millions of dollars, the sort of money needed to defeat these measures, is making much of an effort to do it.

Propositions 16 and 17 can be defeated.

All it takes is a massive campaign to educate voters in a low turnout election about what these two measures actually are.

But if the state's political leaders allow these two measures to pass, California in 2010 will go down in history as the most corrupt and ungovernable state in America.

And it's very close to happening."

San Francisco's/California's Brilliant & Influential Movers & Shakers:

* Speaker Of The House, Nancy Pelosi's, San Francisco Congressional Office Address:
90 7th Street, Suite 2-800, San Francisco, California 94103.
The phone number: 415-556-4862.

* Office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein:
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0707
Fax: (415) 393-0710

* Office of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer
1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 403-0100
(202) 224-0454 fax

* Attorney General Jerry Brown:
California Department of Justice
Attn: Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
(916) 322-3360 or (Toll-free in California) (800) 952-5225
Fax: (916) 323-5341

* Mayor Gavin Newsom
City Hall, Room 200
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 554-6141
Fax: (415) 554-6160
Email: gavin.newsom@sfgov.org

* Janice Hahn
Lieutenant Governor 2010 Committee
5353 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 109
Los Angeles, CA 90036
email: janicehahnforlg@gmail.com

This is another one of those disturbing revelations that just aren't surprising to me.

A friend of mine used to say that no matter what technology the authorities might come up with to use against/mess with people... Joe and Jane Citizen, with adequate ingenuity and some supplies from a hardware store, could more than likely F.S.U. ("F$%& Stuff Up.")

Any homo-erectus with functioning gray matter who assumes that voting machines are un-hackable... Well, they don't deserve to belong to the category of "homo-erectus".

Defending against hacking is a 24/7 thing... if what you have is worthy of hacking.

It's like warfare... it's "liquid"... constantly changing and evolving.

If you reside in California:

I highly recommend (if you want your vote to count for what you voted for) that you choose to fill out an Absentee Ballot. They're on paper. They might not be 100% safe and secure, but from what I've read they're the most secure method of having your vote properly and accurately counted. (Be sure to get them in on time.)

If you live in another state (I'm sorry... Ha. Ha.):

But, seriously.... If you live in another state, Please find out what method of voting your state will be using (paper or electronic).
If it's electronic, find out if the Dept. of Elections/Secretary of State has had the machines tested and what the results are.

This is Very Important!

We have suffered through far too many years of Bush-shite.
I believe that part of the blame for that falls on electoral fraud... of several kinds.

We must not allow our Great Nation to fall further down the virtually bottomless pit that it has been shoved into by neo-con facist assholes.

Please Vote... In Every Election... And make sure Your Vote Counts!

(O.K., I'm off the soapbox... Thanks... I'll be running for Mayor of San Francisco in the future... and I'd appreciate Your Vote.)

Peace.
L.



From: Wired

CA Releases Results of Red-Team Investigation of Voting Machines: All Three Systems Could Be Compromised

By Kim Zetter
July 27, 2007 | 6:01:20 PM
Categories: E-Voting, Election '08, Glitches and Bugs, Hacks and Cracks
Electronic voting

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen just released the results of the state's unprecedented top-to-bottom review of voting systems being used in the state. The review consisted of three parts, one of which involved a Red Team led by UC Davis computer scientist Matthew Bishop that was tasked with examining the systems for security vulnerabilities . The team found that it could compromise all three of the top voting systems used in the state made by Diebold Election Systems, Hart Intercivic, and Sequoia Voting Systems, with the caveat that many, but not all, of the attacks they were able to accomplish on the machines could be mitigated with proper physical security of the machines, security training of staff, and contingency planning.

(*To see if any of these voting systems are used in your state, check out this Spreadsheet from Electionline.org. )

It should be noted that the Red Team stated it did not have enough time to fully examine the systems and was confident that further examination would reveal additional security vulnerabilities in the voting systems. You can read the Red Team reports on the three systems here.


Among the findings: (From: cbsnews.com)

The physical security was weak (Testers were able to access the internals of Sequoia's machines by unscrewing screws to bypass locks, and compromise Diebold's AccuVote TSx machine without prompting reminders to voters to check their printed records).

Software was overwritable with malicious code (Testers could load a program into a machine's memory which, at the next reboot, loaded malicious firmware, at which point an attacker could manipulate the election results, with no access to source code required; attacks on Diebold's machines allowed testers to overwrite firmware, which could change vote totals, and escalate privileges from those of a voter to a poll worker or central count administrator, enabling them to reset an election, issue unauthorized voter cards, and close polls; testers overwrote Hart's eScan software and issued administrative commands.)

Detecting election mode (Firmware loaded onto the Sequoia machine would determine whether a system was in test mode or not, so it could respond correctly to preelection testing and then operate incorrectly on Election Day).

Accessing election management systems (Software could infiltrate Sequoia's database directly and execute system commands on the host computer, and access the GEMS server of Diebold's system and take security-related actions that went unrecorded in the server's audit logs; Hart's system software could be penetrated by a hacker who could access the host operating system to gain unauthorized access to the database).

Altering data (Testers verified that the Hart system's mobile ballot box card could be altered during an election, and that post-election safeguards to prevent tampered data from being counted could be easily bypassed).

Forging materials (Both update cartridges and voter cards could be forged).

Capturing audio (A Hart eSlate with audio enabled for visually-impaired voters could have its audio from a voting session remotely captured, allowing an attacker to violate voter privacy.)