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"Reason of Insanity" Men Get Voting Rights Back. Right Idea?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:46:28 -0700

The Rhode Island Board of Elections has reinstated the voting rights of two men who had them taken away last year. The men were found two decades ago to be not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. However, they now live in a psychiatric center and neither man had ever been released from mental care custody.Rhode Island law says both convicted felons and those “lawfully adjudicated to be non compos mentis” — or sane — aren't allowed to vote. Lawyers for the men appealed for their right to ballot on the grounds that the finding of insanity applied only to “a brief period of time” and that “since it covers a brief period of time, it didn’t seem to persuade the Board of Elections that the men should lose their right to vote.” Let's remember that the "brief period of time" was long enough to let them escape being charged with murder, though they killed four people between them.The subject of felons getting to vote came up when we were all watching Recount — the Florida felon list played heavily into the plot. Is the right to vote something that should be taken away permanently? Do we need a more nuanced system where those convicted of federal felonies could re-earn voting rights? Or should we be even more selective as to who gets to pick our leaders? Was Rhode Island right to reinstate the rights of the mentally ill men? Source

"Reason of Insanity" Men Get Voting Rights Back. Right Idea?

Totally. They stood trail in the appeal so they're not insane — they should get to vote.

Rights should be considered on a case-by-case basis. These men earned the right back.

Are you crazy? They weren't found guilty of murder because of insanity! No votes!

Other. I'll tell you my opinion in the comments.

Front Page: IAEA Concerned About Iran, Zimbabwe Toll, Fox Commentator Apologizes

CitizenSugar — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:55:05 -0700

IAEA Concerned About Iran: The International Atomic Energy Agency issued an honest and specific report yesterday saying that Iran’s suspected research into the development of nuclear weapons remained “a matter of serious concern” and that Iran continued to owe the agency “substantial explanations.” The report pegged Iran with a willful lack of cooperation, especially answering whether nuclear capabilities are intended more for military use than for energy generation. According to Western intelligence agencies, Iranians have ventured into explosives, uranium processing, and a missile warhead design — nuclear weapons activities. One official said of Iran's actions, “There are certain parts of their nuclear program where the military seems to have played a role. We want to understand why.”

Zimbabwe Toll: Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said today of the violence resulting from the contested election held in March, "Over 50 Zimbabweans have been killed in the past six weeks. More than 25,000 people have been displaced. I've been saddened that Zimbabweans are willing to shed the blood of other Zimbabweans over political differences." The runoff election between Tsvangirai and incumbent Robert Mugabe is to be held June 27.
Fox Commentator Apologizes: Over the weekend, Fox analyst, Liz Trotta, said while discussing Hillary Clinton's RFK remark “now we have what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama, um, Obama — well, both, if we could.” The Fox News anchor interviewing her was startled saying, “Talk about how you really feel,” as Trotta laughed. Yesterday Trotta went back on Fox News Channel to apologize. She said, “I am so sorry about what happened yesterday in that lame attempt at humor. I sincerely regret it and apologize to anybody I’ve offended. It’s a very colorful political season, and many of us are making mistakes and saying things that we wish that we hadn’t said.”

To see the video of the incident,

Global Totals: Bolivia Votes on States' Rights

CitizenSugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:59 -0700

Exit polls are showing that Bolivia’s wealthiest province, Santa Cruz, voted to pass a measure yesterday that would grant them autonomy from the federal government. The federal government, lead by Evo Morales is calling this move “unconstitutional.”

Although a few hundred years and a couple of time zones separate the two, Bolivia is facing a heated smidge of the conundrum that Hamilton and Jefferson debated in the early years of the American republic: States' Rights versus Federal Government. The debate between the two sides in Bolivia was heated at best, violent at worst.

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The area of Santa Cruz, the most affluent in Bolivia, has the most to lose if the federal government decides to move forward and nationalize their gas and oil industry. Their solution is to make like Jefferson and grant themselves greater autonomy, including the right to select their own regional governor (currently the federal government appoints all regional governors). Santa Cruz is only one of five states in Bolivia voting on this statute. To see what the federal government is up to,

Funny Man Al Franken's Campaign Flummoxed by Blogger

CitizenSugar — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:00:52 -0700

Al Franken, former SNL funny man turned face of Air America is the Senate candidate running for election in Minnesota, interested in discussing problems that concern his constituents. You know the good issues like jobs, health care, and the environment. Enter the blogosphere. Oops. Unfortunately for the Franken campaign, what he's now being forced to discuss is his failure to pay his income taxes on time. To the tune of $70,000 in 17 different states.

Republican blogger Michael Brodkorb started the blog MinnesotaDemocratsExposed and scooped the mainstream media to out Franken's suspicious bookkeeping and calls Franken “mean spirited and un-Minnesotan” candidate behind a “desperate and ridiculous” campaign. Franken says of the blog, "when people talk about the right wing noise machine, that's what it is." Brodkorb says, "I do think it has some influence right now, but that's never what I sat down to do. This was always about a political junkie looking for an outlet."

Franken is taking on Republican incumbent Senator Norm Coleman.

But, Al — if it's true, how is it noise?

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Front Page: eBay Sues Craigslist, Zimbabwe Recount, India Rebuffs US

CitizenSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:53:37 -0700

eBay Sues Craigslist: The "shop victoriously" eBay is suing the popular no-frills community and ad website Craigslist, saying it needs to "safeguard its four-year financial investment." eBay claims that Craigslist executives took actions that "unfairly diluted eBay's economic interest by more than 10 percent." No further details of that action were gvien. Craigslist responded saying it was surprised and disappointed by eBay's "unfounded allegations." Craigslist is the seventh most popular English-language website.

Zimbabwe Recount: In a recount, Zimbabwe's ruling party (Zanu-PF) has been confirmed as the winner of the first of 23 constituencies to analyze the results of March's election. The opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has questioned the recounts as an attempt to rig the election and overturn its parliamentary majority. The initial results of the election have not been announced. The deputy information minister said that Zanu-PF was preparing for a second round in the presidential election."We are waiting for the official announcement of results to say, we're waiting for a re-run, that's a fact. MDC knows that, Zanu-PF knows that, that there is no clear winner. No-one has got 51 percent." Post-election violence in Zimbabwe has displaced 3,000 people, injured 500 and left 10 dead.
India Rebuffs US: India has declined a call by the US for it to ask Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program. India's foreign ministry said neither India nor Iran needed US guidance on how to proceed with relations. The rebuff came after a senior US official said the US would welcome India telling Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to curtail Tehran's nuclear program. Ahmadinejad is set to visit Delhi next week. A foreign ministry spokesman said, "India and Iran are ancient civilizations whose relations span centuries. Both nations are perfectly capable of managing all aspects of their relationship with the appropriate degree of care and attention. Neither country needs any guidance on the future conduct of bilateral relations as both countries believe that engagement and dialogue alone lead to peace."

Cashed In? Should Candidates Accept Public Financing?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:15:07 -0700

Barack Obama and John McCain are trading pointed queries over who's spending cash from whom, and it all swirls around the question of accepting public financing. McCain is urging Obama, the fund-raising powerhouse, to follow through on his promise and accept public campaign matching funds this fall. The funds effectively cap the amount of money a candidate can spend. McCain had already bought into the plan (receiving a $4 million bailout on his faltering campaign last year) and now might be in hot water for exceeding spending limits while still technically in the primary portion of the budgeting.Public finance reforms aim to give voters more control over government, make politicians accountable to constituents rather than campaign contributors, and provide a level playing field. By combining both an equal amount of dough for candidates, and assuring that a certain amount of donations they do raise are small contributions from a varied audience of voters, the system hopes to give everyone a fair shot at getting elected.Should Obama keep his promise and accept matching funds, or be the first candidate since 1976 to go private? Do the limits enhance the debate by granting greater accessibility, or limit speech by tying the hands of voters who might want to give more?Source

Cashed In? Should Candidates Accept Public Financing?

Yes! Keep your wallet in your pants — a fair money system keeps the issues the focus.

Nope. How much money a candidate raises is the biggest indicator of their appeal.

Other. I'll write my check in the comments.

Global Totals: Italy's Candidates Say "Buongiorno!"

CitizenSugar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:00:03 -0700

Earlier today we took a peek at a little history behind the curtain of Italian politics. While we wait for the results in their election (notoriously inaccurate exit polls show Berlusconi with a lead for now) let's crack open some Chianti and meet the candidates.

Silvio Berlusconi, the would-be three-term premier, is known for his off-color humor. How off? Like, I don’t know, maybe once saying, “Chinese communists used to eat children”? He later apologized, of course, and is widely considered Italy’s most entertaining politician. Funny résumé tidbit? The self-made man was once a cruise-ship singer. While the tips were probably great, he made his real euros as a businessman, in particular an empire of privately-owned television stations. But for an Italy teetering on the edge of recession, his business acumen is what the people want.

His opponent may sound familiar to those following the US elections. To see why,

Front Page: Iraq Sacks 1,300, Maoists Lead in Nepal, Polygamy

CitizenSugar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:00:40 -0700

The Iraqi government dismissed 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight in last month’s Shiite-on-Shiite battles in Basra. The announcement came yesterday after an admission that more than 1,000 members of the security forces had laid down their weapons during the fight. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had characterized the fight as a campaign to restore law and order to Basra. An Interior Ministry spokesman highlighted the conflict in service saying, "some of them were sympathetic with these lawbreakers, some refused to battle for political or national or sectarian or religious reasons.”

In their first elections since 1999, Nepal's Maoist party has taken a commanding lead. The goal of the election is to form an assembly to write a new constitution. The Maoists are reported to have won about half of the 160 seats so far, and are well ahead of other parties. It's been decided that the new constitutional assembly will implement the abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy, and the deputy Maoist leader announced that he believes the monarchy will be abolished in three weeks.
The state of Texas this week will argue to retain custody of all 416 children removed from their parents after a raid on a polygamous compound. Child welfare laws require each child to have his or her own attorney, and bar officials are reporting that more than 350 attorneys from across the state have volunteered to represent the children for free. Three mothers of the children in custody have appealed to Gov. Rick Perry for help in a letter, saying that some of their children have become sick since being removed and are being questioned about events they know nothing about. Yesterday state officials enforced a judge's order to confiscate the cell phones of the women and children removed from the ranch.

Global Totals: Italy Votes . . . Again!

CitizenSugar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:14 -0700

Think Italians are best known for hot cars and delicious food? How about their wild and wooly politics? Italians head to the polls again today in a second day of voting to elect Italy’s 63^rd prime minister since the end of World War II. Keeping score at home? We’ve only had 11 presidents in that window. How about a break from the US election? Let’s take a peeksy at what the Italians have been up to — and then meet the top two candidates later today.

The Italians called early elections in January after the prime minister up and quit. This is not as sensational as it sounds: In the last 50 years, all but one government — that of conservative Silvio Berlusconi’s from 2001-2006 — have dissolved before their time. Why the revolving door? To find out,

Out of Africa: Kenya Hits Two Finish Lines

CitizenSugar — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:16:55 -0700

In Kenya today President Mwai Kibaki named rival Raila Odinga prime minister. The power-sharing deal became official after lengthy negotiations over the agreement they signed more than a month ago.

The two became locked in heated debate over the governing of Kenya following disputed elections between them last December. The official announcement of the agreement is a welcome finish line as deadly violence spurred by the election has left more than 1,000 people dead and around 300,000 displaced.

Another Kenyan crossed a triumphant finish line this morning at the London Marathon. Martin Lel won the London Marathon for the third time in four years, finishing in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 15 seconds.

Other Africans running in the marathon today included a group of Maasai warriors, hoping to raise money to build a well in their village, Eluai, in Tanzania. To see the distinctive athletes in action,

Negative Campaigning in Fantasy History Land!

CitizenSugar — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:00:49 -0700

Sometimes negative campaign ads are so bad you think they have to be fake. . . . and sometimes they're so good because they are! Radar has this fantastically wicked, surprisingly historically prescient roundup slide show of ersatz down-and-dirty political ads.

Take a peek at the William Henry Harrison poster deriding his propensity to go outside underdressed, foreshadowing his foreshortened administration. Do you remember this tidbit from history class?

While many found this attack on William Henry Harrison to be ineffective and nonsensical, it proved prophetic when Harrison, who delivered his inauguration speech without proper head attire, developed pleurisy and died 31 days later.

So wear a hat kids, or you won't be president for too long. Now that's some news you can use!

Positive Message or Negative? Which Works Best?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:19 -0700

If you're choosing to passionately support a candidate or a cause, you can wear your heart on your sleeve, chest, or bumper one of two ways: in support of a cause or against its antithesis. My question is: Which works better? Is one more persuasive?

Positive Message or Negative? Which Works Best?

For. A positive argument builds goodwill for your cause.

Against. I'd rather rally people behind a fight.

Other. I'm not for or against either answer, and I'll tell you why in the comments.

Front Page: Tornadoes, American Airlines, Petraeus Day Two, Nepal

CitizenSugar — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:57:46 -0700

Several tornadoes ripped through West Texas and Oklahoma last night. Winds of up to 70 mph and heavy rains left one dead, at least five houses destroyed, and 3,500 without power. Flooding caused the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to close five highways in the state, while Arkansas also saw flash flooding.
American Airlines has canceled 900 additional flights today as it continues to perform safety inspections on certain jets. It's the third consecutive day of cancellations for American Airlines, who also canceled 1,094 flights on Wednesday and 460 flights the day before.

General Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, remained consistent in his second day of testimony before Congress with his recommendation to suspend troop reductions in Iraq. The recommendation shows that Iraqi forces remain unprepared to take over the mission of securing their own nation. Some questioning Petraeus became frustrated as he steadfastly declined to specify what conditions would need to be present on the ground before he would endorse withdrawals to take the number of American troops far below the 140,000 set to remain there after July. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed his frustration saying, “based on everything we have heard, we can reach only one conclusion: With 160,000 courageous American troops serving in Iraq, President Bush has an exit strategy for just one man — himself — on Jan. 20, 2009.”
Voters in Nepal have cast ballots in historic elections, the first since 1999. At question is an assembly that is expected to rewrite Nepal's constitution and abolish its monarchy. Polling was mostly peaceful, although one person was killed in election-related violence. Results are expected over the next 10 days.

Front Page: Birdflu Outbreaks, Zimbabwe, Flying Cell Phones

CitizenSugar — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:00:40 -0700

India and South Korea are both struggling with fresh outbreaks of bird flu. In India, officials have ordered the elimination of about 20,000 birds. The outbreak is based around Bangladesh and has spread to more than half the country. Earlier this year, more than a million birds were slaughtered in the eastern state of West Bengal after an outbreak of bird flu there. In South Korea the second outbreak of the year, at a duck farm, requires the elimination of hundreds of thousands of birds. The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed more than 230 people in South East Asia since late 2003.

Nine days after the Zimbabwe presidential election, a court in Harare is due to rule on the opposition’s demand for an immediate release of the final tally. The governing party has insisted on a recount leading to further delays. A spokesman for the opposition says, “You can’t ask for the remarking of an exam whose result is not known by the student. It shows their mischief and shenanigans in trying to manipulate the poll.” The opposition has declared victory, though independent election monitors question whether he won the majority required to win outright. President Mugabe's party’s decision to push for a runoff and efforts to delay publication of the election outcome, however, makes voters fear that it is playing for time to mount a campaign of violent intimidation.
The European Commission said today they will allow cell phones to be used on planes. Under the new rules, travelers will be able to receive and make calls safely using their own mobile phones while flying all over Europe, according to the EU. The luxury will be to a very few travelers at first over fears of interfering with the aircraft's functioning. The service might cost travelers however, as the airplanes plan to carry the calls on their own network — at higher rates.

Front Page: Gaza Progress, Zimbabwe Run-Off, H-1B Visas

CitizenSugar — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:57:02 -0700

Israel's defense minister has just said he would consider reopening Gaza's border if violence from the territory stops. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a visit this week pressed Barak to consider easing Israel's blockade of Gaza. The blockade has caused huge economic hardship in the territory of 1.4 million Palestinians. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group and closed Gaza's crossings after the group took control of Gaza, only letting in limited humanitarian supplies since. Barak said, "when conditions have matured in the future for an end to the rockets, the terror and the reduction of the weapons' smuggling, we will be willing to consider easements in the Gaza crossings through cooperation with representatives of (Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam) Fayyad's government."

In Zimbabwe's presidential race, delays are causing increasing speculation that a runoff may be needed between President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai. The delay is frustrating voters as they can see the results of local voting posted at polling stations throughout the country. Independent estimates of the results show Tsvangirai winning with 49 percent to Mugabe's 42 percent. About two-thirds of Zimbabwe's election results have been declared, with the parliamentary seats for the ruling party and opposition very close.
The annual lottery for visas for highly skilled temporary foreign workers begins today. Applications for the H-1B visas are in hot demand. Last year, the agency received enough petitions to cover the annual quota on the first day, and the number of visas offered is controversial. High-tech companies have urged Congress to raise the number offered as they face a shortage of highly skilled tech workers, but official figures show the biggest users of the visas are three Indian high-tech companies, who may be sending workers here to learn competitive information. There are currently 65,000 visas given each year.

Global Totals: Voting in Zimbabwe

CitizenSugar — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:06:13 -0700

Zimbabweans are voting for president, parliament, and local councils today. Current President Robert Mugabe, 84, is up for reelection amid controversy that voting will be fair. Mugabe insists he is fighting a legitimate contest saying, "why should I cheat? The people are there supporting us. The moment the people stop supporting you, then that's the moment you should quit politics."

Among other red flags in this election are an additional 3 million printed paper ballots above the number of actual voters, as well as "ghost voters" and "ghost polling stations" allegedly uncovered by one of Mugabe's competitors. Even if Mugabe overcomes those charges and wins today, he returns to work in a country facing an official inflation level of 100,580.2 percent, and an unemployment level that is above 80 percent.

I think we have some readers from Zimbabwe — please tell us what you saw today! Do you think the elections were fair?
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Headline: Pakistan Elects New Prime Minister

CitizenSugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:00:54 -0700

Yusuf Raza Gillani has been approved by Pakistan's parliament as the country's new prime minister. Gillani is a former parliamentary speaker and was the candidate of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Benazir Butto's party. His election opens the way for the formation of a government made up of opponents to President Pervez Musharraf.

Prime Minister Gillani's new job comes with stiff challenges. He will have to hold together a large coalition, tackling Islamic militancy and severe economic problems, combined with token opposition from President Musharraf's allies. Gillani's election marks the first time in 12 years that the PPP will head the government.

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Headline: Taiwan Elects Pro-China President

CitizenSugar — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:46:04 -0700

Taiwan has just elected Ma Ying-jeou — a Harvard-educated lawyer and former Taipei mayor — as president. Ma Ying-jeou ran his campaign seeking greater economic ties to China. His opponent warned that the current situation in Tibet is possible in Taiwan if China is given greater authority. But today Ma said he was convinced that Taiwan’s economic survival depended on closer ties to Beijing. He said, “if we don’t get into China’s market, we are locked into our own country."

Also up for vote were two controversial referendums — one regarding Taiwan applying for membership in the United Nations — fell well short of passage. China is strongly opposed to United Nations membership for Taiwan, which it regards as a breakaway province. The United States and China had both denounced the UN referendum as provocative because it specifically called for the island to apply as Taiwan and not use its legal name, the Republic of China.

Well over a majority of the island's citizens got "I Voted" stickers. Voter turnout was 75.7 percent.

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Iran Bans Celeb Pics, Reese and Nicole Arouse Desire

CitizenSugar — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 03:00:26 -0700

Hot on the heels of Iran's parliamentary elections, Iran's Culture Ministry has just closed nine movie, celeb, and lifestyle magazines for publishing pictures and stories about the life of "corrupt" foreign film stars and promoting "superstitions."

Waiting until after the election (counting is still under way, though it's expected that the conservatives will retain power) was a move some suspect would discourage retribution at the ballot box. To see the official reason for the shuttering of the pubs and what this means for the future of Iran,

Russia Election Approaches With Anti-Semitic Mudslinging

LibertySugar — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:00:00 -0800

Russia is holding elections on Sunday, and the presumptive winner, Putin's handpicked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, was enjoying a ruffle-free campaign until his foe stirred questions of Medvedev's Jewish heritage.

Nikolai Bondarik, who heads a group calling itself the Russian Party, is claiming that Medvedev's mother is Jewish. Though he has no solid proof, other than speculation about her maiden name, he says voters should be informed.

Bondarik says,
"It has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. I just think Russia's president should be Russian." Wow. While the pictures of the campaign show a crisp and clear outlook, the election might just have gotten muddy. Are you surprised to hear this talk in 2008?

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