Tim Griffin... you're outta here

Most of you probably don't know who Tim Griffin is. That's not surprising.


Well, take a few moments to read up on him.


Ok, so you don't want to do the research on your own, huh? Well, long and short of it, he was VERY closely involved in the 2000 Florida recount (on Bush's side of it all) and also heavily involved in the 2004 Presidential Election. Most notably, in 2004, he was caught red-handed emailing a "caging list" to Carl Rove with 70,000 names of students, military personnel and homeless voters, from predominantly black and Democratic areas.


He was later appointed the U.S. Attorney in Arkansas when Bud Cummins was forced to resign in the recent and ongoing scandal involving Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.


Okay, so now you're up to speed. Basically, he's a loyal bushie and is definitely not the most upstanding or moral individual.


Well, he resigned, effective June 1, to "pursue opportunities in the private sector" after all that finagling to get him the position in the first place. The timing of the resignation is especially interesting...


He resigned on the day that (just hours after, actually) Michigan Representative John Conyers asked for information regarding the emailed caging lists.


Those lists, by the way, were obtained by Greg Palast, investigative reporter and author of Armed Madhouse.

Please note that in the CNN article about the resignation (which was difficult for me to even locate after hearing the news) there is no mention of his background in any of these scandals.

But try to remember his name... I have a funny feeling he'll be popping up again... He's now looking to work for Fred Thompson's campaign... I guess that's as close to the private sector as he can get.

Thought you should know...

I don't know who you are planning to vote for in 2008.

If you're anything like me, you don't know yet either.

Good... then you have plenty of time to learn about the candidates.

Just so we're clear, I'm not advocating for ANY candidate from ANY party. I'm just trying to get the facts to the voting population so that they may make an educated decision.

Here's an interesting article on Hillary from The Nation...

Armed Madhouse

Have you ever heard of an "investigative reporter"?

Seriously... have you?

Have you seen one on TV recently?

You've no doubt seen "correspondents" for all different areas around the world. But when was the last time someone was introduced as an investigative reporter (except on your local news when dealing with auto repair scams)?

Greg Palast is a true investigative reporter. That means that he and his team of investigators actually goes out looking for information about the topics he's going to write about. They call people, they confirm stories via the informant's sources... they verify everything that they write about. They don't just ask one person and publish that person's version of events.

Anyway, my point is that Greg Palast has been doing A LOT of investigative reporting over the past few years, and I'd be willing to bet that you've never heard of him and probably haven't had the opportunity to read anything that he's written.

That's because the American Media conglomerates won't utilize his stories. But the BBC does... all the time. Now you might ask why the US media outlets won't use him... well, basically, it's because his stories are so "out there" when compared to the "official word" that the organizations have been fed by whichever single source they decided to go with that they don't have the budget to actually confirm his allegations. Now, Greg Palast has already confirmed everything he writes, but since the American Media can't afford (it would cut into the dividends paid to share holders) to fact check the pieces, they are simply tossed aside.

So what can you do about this?

I suggest you go out and purchase the audiobook of Greg Palast's most recent book... Armed Madhouse.

Currently it's #23 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for paperback nonfiction. Of course, there's no review of the book since it distributes information that the current administration doesn't really want you to know.

I never read this book... BUT I did get the audiobook and listen to the entire thing twice. It's a GREAT book. But it's an even better audiobook. It's read by the author, who incorporates his sense of humor with the facts and figures... so he delivers all the humor as it was intended, something that is often difficult to do if you've never heard a person speak, but yet try to read their jokes.

If you're not that into audiobooks... fine... go out and buy the "paper version". You'll seriously learn a great deal more after reading that book once, than you would if you watched any and all American news channels for 8 weeks straight.

And after you've read it, I strongly encourage you to spread the word... encourage your friends and family to read it too... Hell, lend them the book (if you think you'll actually get it back) so they don't even have to shell out the loot.

Then let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book, the contents, or even the author...

Regent Law??

Please tell me that you've heard of this through some other source than just this blog...

Regent Law School was started by Pat Robertson and is a "tier 4" law school (that means "bad"). Yet, Monica Goodling (you've at least heard of her in the news in the past week or so, right?... maybe on the Daily Show??) and about 150 other graduates of this small, poorly ranked, VERY religious school are highly integrated into our current government and administration, especially in the Justice Department.

Here's a clip from Bill Maher about the topic...

Under the Bridge, down by the sea

... is apparently the only place registered sex offenders can live anywhere near Miami.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/04/05/bridge.sex.offenders/index.html

Now, I'm not Pro-Sex Offender or anything... I think that besides murder it's one of the most vile things you can do to a person.

But I really can't see how these residency restrictions are constitutional... NOR can I see how forcing people who are trying to get their lives back in order to live under a bridge on the beach is helpful to society in any way shape or form.

I welcome any and all comments...