:: blame the extended gestation.... ::

:: Thursday, March 04, 2004 ::

This should be interesting

So I was wondering this afternoon over a cup of coffee if it was possible to take on the powers that be in the name of democracy. That's when I decided to do what any college-aged guy would do: test it. So i've decided to be like Mike--my friend Mike is doing a similar thing (i'll have to tell you more later). I'm am going to give it the old college try and try to stick a proposition on the ballot within the next two years to move all redistricting from the legislature to a bi-partisan commission. I have no clue what i'm doing... so I'll fit right in with everyone else in government.

If anyone has any clue how to do something like this, or is interested in helping out, drop me a line.

UPDATE: This topic went to the state supreme court a couple of years back; Ted Costa is already working on a new proposition... I guess i'm out of the running. Which is all for the best...

:: Jim Nichols 3/04/2004 07:05:00 PM [+] ::
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Got a Book in You? More Companies Than Ever Are Willing to Get It Out:

"Since September, the nation's second-largest bookseller, Borders Group, has quietly been conducting an experiment in six Philadelphia-area stores, not as a bookseller, but as a publisher.

'It's easy to publish your own book!' the 'Borders Personal Publishing' leaflets proclaim. Pay $4.99. Take home a kit. Send in your manuscript and $199. A month or so later, presto. Ten paperback copies of your novel, memoir or cookbook arrive."

:: Jim Nichols 3/03/2004 04:41:00 PM [+] ::
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Its showtime...

The President of the Continental Congress and first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay, wrote that "the people who own the country ought to govern it." James Madison said the goal of the constitution was "to protect the minority of the opulent from the majority." This was the America of our founding fathers, the America that enshrined racism and sexism in the founding documents; and this is the America of George Bush, an America where those who can pay get to play and the rest get to sit and watch.

I often wondered how the myth of America--work hard and you too will succeed--could be so cherished by Americans when their founding fathers whole intent was far from the egalitarian democracy we are taught to believe in; I often wondered how those who were of voting age could sit and watch the decade of Reagan. I now understand.

I now understand how systemic barriers keep information from the public. Manufacturing consent is the name of the game, not just some stupid leftist book. The resident of the white house took a contested election and veered right without looking back. In three years we have seen tax cuts for the wealthy, war and aggression, our environment sabotaged, our civil liberties "put on hold", and arrogance become our stated foreign policy. A year ago we saw the single largest anti-war protest in the history of world... a protest directed at our leader and his so called "leadership."

George Bush knew the right-wing policies of the past three years would not be accepted by the general population; that is why George Bush chose to be a war time president. Because when we hide from the world and let our benevolent father figure protect us from the hobgoblins and bogey monsters of the world we forget to look outside our own window.

Well its time to start looking again.

And that's why its time to put our money where our mouth is. Here is the link to John Kerry's website:

http://www.johnkerry.com/

Follow the link and contribute money. And if you can't, find 5 other people who can. Have a smaller coffee, or one less beer at the bar from now until the election. George Bush wants us to be spectators and not participants. He wants us to be voters and not contributors--because voting does nothing and money everything. He wants us playing progessivist games of political nuance--no we aren't stupid, like Clinton before him Kerry will compromise our goals. John Kerry will not end American militarism, will not give us single payer health care, will not put people before corporations, because these are all systemic failures of this country that one man cannot take on. But John Kerry is a step in the right direction. A direction worth our time, our passion, and our money.

:: Jim Nichols 3/02/2004 07:57:00 PM [+] ::
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sacbee.com -- Business -- Grocery contract assailed:

"Local labor leaders Monday criticized key elements of the recent Southern California grocery strike settlement and said they will continue to prepare for a possible strike this summer."

:: Jim Nichols 3/02/2004 07:56:00 PM [+] ::
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Life's rough for the Health (Care-for-profit) Industry
Weiss Ratings: HMO profits rise 73 percent - 2004-03-02 - Sacramento Business Journal:

"The nation's health maintenance organizations reported an aggregate $4.3 billion profit during the first six months of 2003 -- a 73.3 percent increase over the profits in 2002's first half, according to Weiss Ratings Inc. "

:: Jim Nichols 3/02/2004 04:01:00 PM [+] ::
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Greens seek pan-European political clout | csmonitor.com:

"Thirty years ago a handful of ecology-minded activists threw themselves into the European political fray and succeeded, over time, in turning what had been radical environmental demands into mainstream, conventional concerns.

Now the Greens are going against the grain again. Even as Europe flounders in its search for cohesion, and Europeans retreat further into their national identities, 32 Green parties have founded the first pan-European political party with a transnational election platform and continental reach."

The Greens have done well in Europe, the two party oligarchy here won't allow for a viable third (or fourth) party in the U.S.--which is really too bad. We are the worse for it, less chance of fresh new ideas coming into play. We always talk about capitalism and how it brings in fresh new ideas; well in politics multi-party systems are the way to inovation.

:: Jim Nichols 3/01/2004 02:21:00 PM [+] ::
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