Moving

I've moved our blog over to http://josquin.us/dfa. Check us out there!

Cheers!

Ed Fallon Set to Announce Gubernatorial Run This Saturday

A message from Rep. Ed Fallon (D-Polk):

Dear Friends,

I will announce my candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor at a rally on Saturday, April 9th, from noon - 2:00 p.m. at the Iowa State Capitol building, first floor rotunda. Because the 9th is a Saturday, only the east entrance will be open, and it is handicapped accessible. Please park in the Lucas Building parking lot just east of the Capitol.

The response I have received from friends, allies and others has been consistently positive and encouraging. All across this state I am encountering a growing understanding that conventional politics - dominated and funded by corporate interests - cannot be trusted to address the issues important to the vast majority of Iowans. Iowans are frustrated with "politics as usual" and are genuinely searching for a progressive and winning alternative.

Campaign finance reform is critical to creating a political environment where real issues are addressed. Because of this, I am relying only on donations from individuals - no money from PACs, paid lobbyists or corporate interests. This means I will most certainly be outspent, although the response from individuals has been excellent (to date over $100,000 raised and over $250,000 pledged!).

The great resource of this campaign is people power. Our effort is based on the small, monthly pledges of support from individuals and the significant time invested by hundreds - eventually thousands - of volunteers. In order to defeat big-money politics, I have had to start early, work hard and gradually build support neighborhood by neighborhood, county by county and region by region. With the help of a great staff - part paid, part volunteer - we've been doing that, and it's beginning to show.

In order to demonstrate the true grassroots power of this campaign, we are setting a goal of 500 people for the April 9th announcement rally. With a turnout of this size I hope to establish increased credibility with the media and, most importantly, to send a powerful message to the people of Iowa that a campaign based on principle, determination and people-power can win.

Our success at turning out 500 people for the announcement event rests with you. We ask you to commit to getting five to ten of your friends, neighbors and co-workers to join us on April 9th. If you can help in this way, please call our headquarters at (515) 244-3113 and let us know how many people you can bring to the rally. This information is important so we can have a baseline estimate of numbers for logistics and with our communications with media.

Entertainment at the event will be provided by The Good Time Band from Davenport, a union band belonging to Local 67 of the American Federation of Musicians, and Joe Hynek from Rinngold County.

Confirmed speakers are Mark Johns (Republican perspective for endorsing Fallon), Dave O'Connor (education), Lynn Heuss (issues of poverty & social justice) and Carter Woodruff (personal endorsement). My speech will follow these speakers, probably around 1:15 p.m.

Following the announcement event, there will be a reception at campaign headquarters, 1135 10th St. from 2:00 - 4:00.

Thanks so much for all of your support and I'll see you on April 9th!!

Rep. Ed Fallon
http://www.fallonforgovernor.org

2004 Presidential Election Exit Poll Discrepancy Update

THE BRAD BLOG: "SCIENTIFIC REPORT: Evidence Strongly Suggests 2004 Presidential Election Results -- Not the Exit Polls! -- Were Biased and/or Flawed!"

USCountVotes.org has produced a scientific statistical analysis of the discrepancies between the exit polls and the announced vote totals. Summarize with the following:

"Our conclusion is that the data appear to be more consistent with the hypothesis of bias in the official count, rather than bias in the exit poll sampling. No data in the report supports the [Edison/Mitofsky] hypothesis that Kerry voters were more likely than Bush voters to cooperate with pollsters and, in fact, there is some indication that the opposite may have been the case."

Visit the BRAD BLOG for more information.

James Baker Must Resign from Blue-Ribbon Election Reform Commission!

VELVETREVOLUTION.US : VR Press Release 03/30/05: James Baker Must Resign from Blue-Ribbon Election Reform Commission!

James Baker III as co-chair of the election reform commission? Whatever!

The Paper Chase

Blogs, news sites team up to bring underreported news to those beyond the Web

Someone have a lot of paper and feel like printing? This project aims to get the news out -- rather than relying on the traditional media to get the news out, maybe we're going to have to print out the stories and leave them everywhere.

"Congressional Cretins and the Ides of March"

I thought this a rather scary story about the Senate planning to end the possibility of Senate filibustering of judicial nominees and also clearing the way for ANWR to be plundered. Apparently they believe they have the votes necessary to change the rules. Help!

t r u t h o u t || Congressional Cretins and the Ides of March

The Republican Dictionary

William Rivers Pitt of Truthout has posted this "Republican Dictionary". No one's quite sure where it came from...

t r u t h o u t || The Republican Dictionary