On several deadlines and fighting some server probs. So...please talk amongst yourselves (if you can, one of the probs is in the comments routines!), and I'll otherwise be back shortly. Thanks for your patience, as ever...
w/ Brad & Desi
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w/ Brad & Desi
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BARCODED BALLOTS AND BALLOT MARKING DEVICES
BMDs pose a new threat to democracy in all 50 states...
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VIDEO: 'Rise of the Tea Bags'
Brad interviews American patriots...
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'Democracy's Gold Standard'
Hand-marked, hand-counted ballots...
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On several deadlines and fighting some server probs. So...please talk amongst yourselves (if you can, one of the probs is in the comments routines!), and I'll otherwise be back shortly. Thanks for your patience, as ever...
Today (Saturday 1/24/09) is The BRAD BLOG's 5th anniversary! Five years?! Until last Tuesday, I might have said, "feels more like 50!" But with a certain lead-like weight beginning to lift, for some strange reason, as the past week wore on, I'll just say: "Wow! Has it been five years already?!"
My thanks to so many of you who have supported this site and the work we've done, in so many different ways, over these many years. I'd say it's been "my pleasure," but that may be overstating just how grueling these last many years have been.
So I'll leave it to you old timers (and new timers, alike) to let us know in comments either a) what brought you here originally, b) why you kept coming back for more, c) what your favorite/least favorite story/article was/is (feel free to share links if you like) or d) all of the above as you see fit.
Seeing as how the appropriate fifth anniversary gift is supposed to be wood, and how cash money is made from paper, which is made from wood, we would be more than delighted if you felt like leaving an anniversary gift after a particularly difficult year here. If you're really in the mood to be generous, we still have signed DVD copies of the award-winning documentaries Murder, Spies & Voting Lies and Uncounted (both featuring yours truly), which will be happy to send ya in return for donations of $50 or above (details here).
But don't let the lack of a wooden gift in these troubled times keep you from commenting and sharing your thoughts, as that is always (well, mostly) gift enough. Thank you all for everything. Here's to 5 more! (If I can make it!)
Just a quick update...I've been on the road for the last month or two, and now finally nearing home. Not there yet, but hope to be soon. If any from our fine list of Guest Bloggers are available to jump in here, hopefully they will while I still have more hours of on-the-road, off-the-grid time ahead in the next several days. Otherwise, I should be back "full time" pretty soon. Frankly, the sooner the better, as there are a number of reports I've been working on, but haven't had time to complete for ya. They'll be coming soon. Even if not as soon as I'd like, while still on the roll.
Obviously, we could use more guest reporter/contributors around here, but they are very hard to come by, particularly given the type of blogging we tend to do here (more reporting than opinion) and particularly at the "price" I'm able to pay (approximately nothing, unfortunately). However, if you, or someone you know, might be interested in doing some BRAD BLOGGING, and think you have the investigative and writing and editing skills and/or the sense-of-humor (as appropriate) for this joint, please feel free to drop me a private note, along with a few links to a few short sample items that you feel may be appropriate BRAD BLOG-type stories which may give me an idea of your work. Use subject line: "GUEST BLOGGING!"
Would love to hear from you! And thanks, otherwise, for your continuing patience for our otherwise road-weary and still wrist-hobbled, nearly-one-man blogging band. We'll try to make it back to our home, before Obama gets to his...
While these things are usually decided by numbers of readers for any particular website --- and as we noted when originally nominated as a Finalist for the 2008 Weblog Awards, that would likely be as far as we'd go, given the huge readership of many of our fellow (excellent) nominees --- we're happy to remind you that you can vote for us anyway.
And you can even do it once every 24 hours! So do it! And do it again! (Yes, in this election, stuffing the ballot box is perfectly legal!)
Who knows, but a good turnout may put a few important BRAD BLOG stories, such as those on election integrity issues found nowhere else, in front of that many more eyeballs.
With all of that said, we're delighted and grateful to Jill C., of the always-sharp Brilliant at Breakfast (Disclosure: Jill has guest blogged here a bit of late) for her endorsement of The BRAD BLOG in a category with a particularly impressive club of fellow nominees. Here's her kind endorsement...
Thanks, Jill! And be sure to read her full item for other endorsements, and marvel at her ability to keep up with so many blogs! Yes, we're jealous of that!
We thank you, and wish you all a very Happy New Year,
And pray that 2009 brings the dawn of a much brighter day...
-- Brad --
As The BRAD BLOG hobbles wrist-wrecked and flu-fallen towards the finish line of a particularly harrowing and exhausting year, we're heartened by a very nice distinction, being named as Finalist in the 2008 Weblog Awards.
We hadn't even realized we were in the running, until the list of nominees was announced last night. So we're pleased to find ourselves in very distinguished company for the "Best Liberal Blog" nod:
We don't much care for the "Liberal Blog" label, but as neither "Best Independent Blog" nor "Best Non-Rightwingnut Blog" were available categories, and given the company we're honored to share, we'll take whatever we can get and note --- as it is said, and we mean it --- the honor of simply being nominated.
Online voting for the title begins right here at the Weblog Awards site on Jan 5th. Though given the sizes of the (mostly) group blogs we're nominated alongside, as mentioned, we're honored to have simply been nominated, without even campaigning, as Finalist.
UPDATE 1/5/09: Voting is now open through Jan 12th. And guess what? You can vote once in every 24 hour period! So go stuff the ballot box! It's legal!
Guess what I got for Xmas? Yup, got slammed by the flu on XMas weekend, just to make sure I had extra fun this year. Well, I've taken the hint, and have been standing down, way down, lying down, in fact, for several days, and may continue to do so, unless the world stops revolving without me.
Guest bloggers, as usual, will save the day...until I feel up to doing so myself again...Please pardon my absence until then...Much to catch up on, but it'll have to wait for now. You --- and I, both --- will thank me later.
At this year's Christmas, I'm happy to associate myself with my colleague, the good John Gideon of VotersUnite.org who offered these well-writ holiday thoughts at the top of last night's DVN:
As well, I share the following from a moving note sent to me by another colleague today, one who happens to be a great, longtime civil rights champion. I believe his thoughts, and thanks, are due to all of those who have helped to support our work here at The BRAD BLOG and have made us a regular stop on an increasingly busy super highway, over the past year and more...
I want to say an official thank you from the civil rights community for all you have done to protect the right to vote and help knock down the numerous administrative barriers that still exist.
Please take his kind words sent to me, as my sincere thoughts sent to you, in hopes we can all celebrate someday --- and perhaps even for a few hours this Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever holiday you enjoy --- what we all continue to strive for, in our long, strange journey together...
[Ed Note: Be sure to see the second of two UPDATES added to the bottom of the story below for Prof. Scott Althaus email sent in to note that his University of Illinois report does indeed cite The BRAD BLOG, several times, for our original contribution to their findings.]
Today's "news" that the White House altered Iraq War documents on its website regarding "the coalition of the willing" is not actually news at all.
The BRAD BLOG broke that story --- the first such scoop of ours to be noticed and picked up by the national media --- back in 2004, prior to the Presidential Election. At the time, the noise we helped cause with the revelations led to the WH being forced to restore terrabytes of documents, audio and video to their website in the week prior to the election. You're welcome.
We initially made the discovery of the missing WH website documents on the night of the Vice-Presidential Debate, after Dick Cheney claimed to be offended by John Edwards' assertion that the U.S. had "taken 90 percent of coalition casualties" in Iraq.
Cheney faked indignation in response, arguing that it was "beyond the pale" that Edwards was ignoring the sacrifices of Iraqis. Not recalling that Iraq was ever named as part of the "Coalition of the Willing," we checked the WH website, only to find the link to the list still there, but the page itself missing. Afterwards, we found many other pages, as well as audio and video, had been illegally removed from the website.
Here's our Special Coverage page, indexing our series of reports on the "White House Website Scrubbing" scandal, beginning in October of 2004.
We're very happy, in any case, that it's now "officially" news, and that the violation of the federal Presidential Records Act that we noted at the time is also confirmed, now that a professor at a university has found the same, and written about it. Guess we'll have to find a professorship somewhere. Haven't gotten to read his original report yet, but I'll assume he offered us the hat-tip we're due.
UPDATE: The above benefit-of-the-doubt, concerning credit where its due, may not be a safe assumption. The rather irony-laden coverage of professor of political science and communication Scott Althaus' findings, as reported by the Daily Illini today, follows. Get a load of this...
...That it's our last legitimate opportunity to use the following photos:
(Your alternative captions welcome in comments.)
...And, among other things, that so many of you have joined me, for so long, during this bizarre and often horrifying journey, for so many years. My thanks to you all, and hopes for a peaceful holiday for you and yours. -- Brad
A combination of factors, which I can get into at another time (but which include a still-very sore wrist that I've had to wrestle with over the last several months, despite doctor's orders, while trying to keep up with a helluva busy election season), has forced me to slow down a bit on this end over the last several days, while allowing time for a few more guest voices here in the bargain.
I thank you for your patience and understanding as I continue to tread water and do my best to chew well so much that I've bitten off over the last several years (much of which takes a while before it makes its way onto these pages) and offer an early heads-up that I am going to try to take a bit more down time --- in hopes of allowing my wrist to heal a bit, my brain to heal a bit, my body to catch up with some rest, my family to actually see me for a minute or two, as well as a number of other well-worth-it super-secret projects which require some time and attention --- over the next month or two (or even three if I can get away with it) during and after the holidays.
My hope is to bring on a few more guest contributors here to allow me some of that time. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to spend some much needed hours away from the blog in the bargain, though not immediately and certainly not indefinitedly. So, with much still on the plate, I'm still right here, and have much more to come (even today, on a number of important items, if I can catch up, with a TV taping scheduled for mid-afternoon to keep me further behind-schedule). But I just wanted to offer a quick status report, and explain why I've been a bit slower than I'd like in keeping up with a lot that continues to roll over the last several days in a number of places (AK, MN, and GA, to name just a few of them).
Hopefully, you haven't much noticed. But either way, as mentioned, thanks again for your patience and understanding, and for your support over so many months and years. I'll do my best to keep you all up to date on the above as things move forward, of course, and hope, in the meantime, you'll keep The BRAD BLOG high your list of daily must-reads in the ever-growing blogosphere...
I was live on the popular Riz Kahn program yesterday on Al Jazeera English, along with Clint Curtis (he in FL, myself in L.A.) to discuss the terrifying new documentary Murder, Spies & Voting Lies: The Clint Curtis Story and related concerns about electronic voting in our current general election. AJE, for those who don't know, is a very well respected, and widely viewed worldwide cable/satellite channel, run by former BBC folks like David Frost. Here's what aired live yesterday...
If you'd like your own DVD of the MSVL documentary --- which has been getting rave reviews from all quarters --- I'd be delighted to send you one, signed by both myself and the filmmaker, Patty Sharaf, in exchange for a $50 contribution to The BRAD BLOG.
Alternately, or in addition, if you'd like a copy of the award-winning Uncounted (which I'm also in, but it's still good anyway), signed by filmmaker David Earnhardt, a $50 contribution here will get you one of those as well.
For a $75 or more contribution, I'd be thrilled (and much appreciative!) to have both of them sent to you!
(Snail-mail works for all of the above as well. Send to: Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594, Los Angeles, CA 90028)
Thanks for the support, and onward we go...
Last week I ran the video of an interview that Russia Today (an extremely popular English language state-sponsored Russian satellite/cable channel) flew into town to conduct with me. That posting included some thoughts on the interview, which also included some of my thoughts on problems in the U.S. corporate media.
Now, the RT reporter Anastasia Churkina files a broader report on concerns about the e-voting systems to be used in our upcoming election, including more from my interview with her, and another with my friend Thom Hartmann. Here's that new report (appx 4 mins)...
By the way, between those two Russian TV appearances, and a live one scheduled for Monday with Clint Curtis on Riz Kahn's Al Jazeera English program (to discuss the new documentary Murder, Spies & Voting Lies), I will have easily spent more time on foreign TV this year than on American TV. Heckuva job U.S. corporate media!
For convenience, the video of my "complete" interview (at least what ran on RT, as I discussed last week) is posted again below (appx 3.5 mins)...
In an ACORN press release we quoted yesterday, in our article noting the 1.3 million reasons the GOP is working so hard to "Dixie-Chick" the tireless democracy-supporting efforts of the community organization, they courageously declared:
If that unflinching response to the wingnut democracy-haters doesn't underscore how ACORN is not a part of the Democratic Party, I don't know what does. But, in any case, in a comment in response to my article, longtime BRAD BLOG troll "Smithy" wrote this:
Well, for a start, there are exactly zero "fraudulent vote[s] that Acorn produced," no matter what the liar "Smithy," and the rest of the shameless GOP liars, might try to tell you (with exactly zero evidence to back up their obnoxious and dangerous claims).
But I'm happy to thank "Smithy" for the reminder that it is your donations to The BRAD BLOG that keep it going, as we receive no corporate or foundational support, so that we can continue to do our part to "presevre voting rights in this country."
Like ACORN, "we will not be intimidated, we will not be provoked, and in this important moment in history we will not allow anyone to distract us from these vital efforts to empower our constituencies and our communities to speak for themselves."
So if you'd like to help us do just that, please click here to send a BRAD BLOG donation in "Smithy's" dishonor! (If you'd like to be a monthly sustaining supporter of any amount, please use the easy blue box in the right side bar. If you'd like to donate $50 or more one time, we'll be happy to send you a signed DVD of either Murder, Spies & Voting Lies or Uncounted. Your choice. Details here...)
If you'd prefer to donate to any other pro-democracy organization instead of, or in addition to The BRAD BLOG, in the name of "Smithy" and his ilk, please consider one of the following BRAD BLOG-approved groups: ACORN; VotersUnite.org; VoterAction.org; BlackBoxVoting.org; Palast Investigaive Fund; VelvetRevolution.us (Disclosure: We co-founded VR).
...And/or, feel free to support any of the candidates, from any party, who have gone on record pledging to Stand Up For Voters this year for a change!
Thanks, "Smithy"!
P.S. I'll be on The Randi Rhodes Show today at 4:30pm ET (1:30pm PT) to discuss the GOP's ACORN "voter fraud" fraud with Randi. Please consider supporting her and Mike Malloy's underdog progressive syndicator NovaM Radio as well!
I'll be Guest Hosting the The Mike Malloy Show tonight through Friday, from 9pm-Midnight ET (6p-9p PT) each night. Hope you'll tune in!
Tomorrow, we'll be running the Veep Debate live for the first 90 minutes (or until Palin breaks down in tears), followed by a Blogger Roundtable with some world class bloggers (Marcy Wheeler from Empty Wheel, David "dday" Dayen from Digby's Hullabalo and Calitics, Marc "Armed Liberal" Danziger from Winds Of Change, Pamela Leavey from The Democratic Daily, and maybe a few more --- even some Righties --- if we can get 'em!)
But tonight is looking pretty good as well, and is currently scheduled to include the following:
Malloy's show is nationally syndicated on a number of air affiliates around the country, on Sirus Ch. 146, XM Ch. 167 and streaming live online at NovaMRadio.com.
As always, "Agent 99" will be your charming, if often irritable hostess for our live Open Thread during the show right here. See ya tonight!
POST-SHOW UPDATE: Miss anything? Here it all is, delivered straight to ya. Commercial free. You're welcome. The audio archives follow...