[Ugnet] ARAFAT SLOWLY, FATALLY POISONED
Arafat Slowly, Fatally Poisoned Say PalestiniansIslam Online11-6-4 Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had been slowly yet fatally poisoned before being taken to a French military hospital for treatment, Palestinian sources told IslamOnline.net on Thursday, November 4. "This slow poisoning of Arafat caused problems in his blood platelets, a case which leads to continuous comas followed by a long irreversible coma and death, the sources said, on condition of anonymity. They added that the Palestinian security bodies have opened investigations into the poisoning in Arafat, who had been confined to his presidential Ramallah compound by Israel during the last three years. Tests have already revealed that the 75-year-old Palestinian leader has a low count of blood platelets, which are needed for clotting, but doctors are uncertain over what is causing the condition. Mohammed Rashid, a close associate of the Palestinian leader, said earlier in the day Arafat,s health sometimes suffers setbacks and improves at other times _ which is the same symptoms described by the sources to IOL. Possibly Poisoned, Meanwhile, Arafat's personal physician, Dr. Ashraf Kurdi, told Aljazeera on air that "the Arafat,s health condition makes the poisoning a strong possibility. Arafat's chief of staff, Ramzi Khoury, called an Associated Press reporter from Paris and told him: "I am standing next to the president's bed, he is in grave condition. French LCI television station quoted an anonymous French medical official as saying Arafat was in an "irreversible coma and "intubated " a process that usually involves threading a tube down the windpipe to the lungs. The tube is often connected to a life support machine to help the patient breathe. The Israeli media reported that Arafat was brain dead but remained on life support. Other media outlets reported that the gravely-ill Palestinian leader had died or was brain dead. More Complex, These statements came after Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters at a summit of European leaders in Belgium that Arafat had died, but he later retracted the statement. After Juncker's initial statement, a spokesman for the military hospital where Arafat was rushed Friday said he was still alive. "Arafat is not dead, said Christian Estripeau, head of communications for French military health services. "The clinical situation of the first few days following admission has become more complex, said Estripeau. He gave no word whether Arafat is in coma or not. The Palestinian leader was taken to intensive care after his condition worsened. Threats Israel had earlier threatened to kill Arafat for repeated times. Arafat had escaped 13 assassination bids, including three poisoning attempts, according to the Palestinian sources. Israeli Industry Minister Ehud Olmert said on September 14, that "killing Arafat is an option". Arafat cannot continue to be a factor in the Middle East scene. His expulsion is an option, his liquidation is another option. It is also possible to confine him to prison-like conditions," Olmert, who is also deputy Prime Minister, told Israeli radio at the time. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened the same day to expel Arafat from the occupied Palestinian territories. The hawkish Premier said Arafat would be banished from the Palestinian lands at the convenient time as was the case with Hamas top leaders late sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi. Yassin and Rantissi were assassinated in an Israeli missile attacks on occupied Palestinian territories this year. Sharon even admitted personally supervising one of the two assaults. But the statements have drawn massive intensive fire from the international community, having probably forced Israel to put the plans of assassinating Arafat on hold at that time. The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" ___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugand
[Ugnet] KERRY WON -HERE ARE THE FACTS
Kerry Won - Here Are The FactsBy Greg PalastTom Paine.com11-5-4 I know you don't want to hear it. You can't face one more hung chad. But I don't have a choice. As a journalist examining that messy sausage called American democracy, it's my job to tell you who got the most votes in the deciding states. Tuesday, in Ohio and New Mexico, it was John Kerry. Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry. At 1:05 a.m. Wednesday morning, CNN's exit poll showed Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to 47 percent. The exit polls were later combined with-and therefore contaminated by-the tabulated results, ultimately becoming a mirror of the apparent actual vote. Kerry also defeated Bush among Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state. So what's going on here? Answer: the exit polls are accurate. Pollsters ask, "Who did you vote for?" Unfortunately, they don't ask the crucial, question, "Was your vote counted?" The voters don't know. Here's why. Although the exit polls show that most voters in Ohio punched cards for Kerry-Edwards, thousands of these votes were simply not recorded. This was predictable and it was predicted. [See TomPaine.com, "An Election Spoiled Rotten," November 1.] Once again, at the heart of the Ohio uncounted vote game are, I'm sorry to report, hanging chads and pregnant chads, plus some other ballot tricks old and new. The election in Ohio was not decided by the voters but by something called "spoilage." Typically in the United States, about 3 percent of the vote is voided, just thrown away, not recorded. When the bobble-head boobs on the tube tell you Ohio or any state was won by 51 percent to 49 percent, don't you believe it ... it has never happened in the United States, because the total never reaches a neat 100 percent. The television totals simply subtract out the spoiled vote. Whose Votes Are Discarded? And not all votes spoil equally. Most of those votes, say every official report, come from African-American and minority precincts. (To learn more, click here.) We saw this in Florida in 2000. Exit polls showed Gore with a plurality of at least 50,000, but it didn't match the official count. That's because the official, Secretary of State Katherine Harris, excluded 179,855 spoiled votes. In Florida, as in Ohio, most of these votes lost were cast on punch cards where the hole wasn't punched through completely-leaving a 'hanging chad,'-or was punched extra times. Whose cards were discarded? Expert statisticians investigating spoilage for the government calculated that 54 percent of the ballots thrown in the dumpster were cast by black folks. (To read the report from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, click here .) And here's the key: Florida is terribly typical. The majority of ballots thrown out (there will be nearly 2 million tossed out from Tuesday's election) will have been cast by African American and other minority citizens. So here we go again. Or, here we don't go again. Because unlike last time, Democrats aren't even asking Ohio to count these cards with the not-quite-punched holes (called "undervotes" in the voting biz). Nor are they demanding we look at the "overvotes" where voter intent may be discerned. Ohio is one of the last states in America to still use the vote-spoiling punch-card machines. And the Secretary of State of Ohio, J. Kenneth Blackwell, wrote before the election, "the possibility of a close election with punch cards as the state's primary voting device invites a Florida-like calamity." But this week, Blackwell, a rabidly partisan Republican, has warmed up to the result of sticking with machines that have a habit of eating Democratic votes. When asked if he feared being this year's Katherine Harris, Blackwell noted that Ms. Fix-it's efforts landed her a seat in Congress. Exactly how many votes were lost to spoilage this time? Blackwell's office, notably, won't say, though the law requires it be reported. Hmm. But we know that last time, the total of Ohio votes discarded reached a democracy-damaging 1.96 percent. The machines produced their typical loss-that's 110,000 votes-overwhelmingly Democratic. The
[Ugnet] Acholi MPs Condemn Priest's Arrest
Acholi MPs Condemn Priest's Arrest Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site New Vision (Kampala) November 4, 2004 Posted to the web November 4, 2004 Cyprian MusokeKampala The Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) has condemned the Monday arrest of Catholic priest Monsignor Mathew Ojara in Kitgum, on allegations of rebel collaboration. Addressing a press conference at Parliament yesterday, Agago Mp Prof. Morris Ogenga Latigo, reading from a joint APG statement, said they had no doubt the arrest was a continuation of harassment of the Catholic church in Acholi. "We would like to reject outright, and with the greatest contempt, this outrageous accusation against a man of God," Latigo said. The MPs accused army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza and security minister Betty Aketch of persistently accusing catholic priests in Gulu of collaborating with rebels, without evidence. Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] US Clears Unexploded Ordnance to Speed Relief to Sudan
OYO MI ITELUM..Abolo NII dong car Lok eno! US Clears Unexploded Ordnance to Speed Relief to Sudan Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site United States Department of State (Washington, DC) PRESS RELEASEOctober 29, 2004 Posted to the web November 5, 2004 Washington, DC United States Clears Unexploded Ordnance to Help Speed Relief Aid to Sudan's Rumbek Region The U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, working through its RONCO Consulting Corporation contractor, successfully completed a battlefield area clearance project by the vital dirt airstrip at Rumbek in southern Sudan. This will enable the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) to safely improve the runway, making it available to large transport aircraft, significantly increasing the volume of relief supplies provided to meet the needs of Sudanese civilians. Rumbek is an important transit point for food, medicine and other critical items en route to needy populations in southern Sudan. Up to now, only small single and twin-engine aircraft could land at Rumbek. With the completion of the battlefield area clearance, WFP will be able to expand the airstrip so that larger aircraft such as C-130 transports can deliver greater amounts of aid. The World Food Program is expected to begin runway and apron improvements in November. Photos depicting the Rumbek airstrip in its present state, immediately following completion of the battlefield area clearance project, may be viewed online at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/b/37518.htm. Relevant Links East Africa North Africa Transport and Shipping Aid and Assistance Sudan United States, Canada and Africa Arms and Military Affairs In 2002, the U.S. Department of State facilitated the safe return of displaced Sudanese to the Nuba Mountain region in Sudan by deploying its Quick Reaction Demining Force to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance there. The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs provides humanitarian mine action assistance and support for small arms /light weapons mitigation worldwide. To learn more, visit www.state.gov/t/pm/ wra. Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] From the US State Dept:Darfur Sinking Into Anarchy, U.N. Envoy Warns
Darfur Sinking Into Anarchy, U.N. Envoy Warns Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site United States Department of State (Washington, DC) November 4, 2004 Posted to the web November 5, 2004 Judy AitaNew York Security Council wants peace agreement by November 19 Warning that Darfur could sink into a "state of anarchy," the U.N. special envoy for Sudan said November 4 that the upcoming Security Council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, must be "an event to influence conditions on the ground." Jan Pronk told the Security Council: "Darfur may easily enter a state of anarchy, a total collapse of law and order. The conflict is changing in character ... the spirit is out of the bottle and cannot be pushed back." "Nobody is fully in control. I call that anarchy," Pronk said at a press conference. "Let's face it, there is a war. The Jingaweit claim they have the whole area under control (and) Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) commanders have Khartoum in their eyes." The government does not control its own forces fully nor can it count on the obedience of the Jingaweit militia; the lines between the military, paramilitary and police are being blurred, Pronk said. Within the rebel movements there is a leadership crisis and splits in the groups, he said, and political leaders are increasingly unable to control their forces on the ground. Warning that Darfur may soon be "ruled by warlords," Pronk said that rebel commanders "provoke their adversaries by stealing, hijacking and killing, some seem to have begun acting for their own private gain. They now control so much territory that they either take responsibility for the needs of the people therein and become political leaders, or they may turn to preying on the civilians in the areas they control by force." Fighting is breaking out in more and more places, and parties are provoking one another, Pronk reported. If this negative trend in not reversed "it is a recipe for disaster," he warned. The Security Council needs to send a message to rebel groups "that their rebel status does not exonerate them from a moral obligation towards their people," the U.N. envoy said. "On the contrary, as political leaders, they are as responsible for civilian protection as much as the Government of Sudan." Pronk proposed a three-pronged approach: getting the large African Union (AU) force into the region quickly to act as a buffer between groups; speeding up all of the peace negotiations; and holding all political leaders -- the official ones as well as the self-appointed ones -- accountable for ongoing violations. Even though the 5,000-member AU force is being deployed, Pronk said, its deployment needs to be quickened so that the forces can get to insecure areas that might get out of control and explode. "It is the duty of the international community," the U.N. envoy said, "to consider further action if the actions taken so far prove to be insufficient." U.S. Ambassador John Danforth, president of the Security Council for the month of November, issued a press statement expressing the council's "deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Sudan and especially in Darfur. The members of the council join the secretary general in condemning in the strongest possible terms the forced relocation of internally displaced persons." The council also reiterates its call to the government of Sudan to stop the forcible relocation of civilians, return those who were moved, and allow aid workers immediate access to all camps, Danforth said. On November 19 and 20, the Security Council will hold a two-day meeting in Nairobi, where peace talks have been taking place to resolve the long-running civil war in southern Sudan. Darfur will also be on the council's agenda. The council will discuss the issues with representatives of the African Union, which has a cease-fire-monitoring mission in Darfur; the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which supervises the southern Sudan peace talks; the government of Sudan; and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. Danforth said that the council is pressing for the North-South peace agreement -- which would also have a positive impact on the people of Darfur -- to be finalized by the time of the meeting. In addition, the ambassador said, the council is working on a resolution that would be adopted in Nairobi that spells out "the continuing engagement of the international community in Sudan, assuming that there is a peace agreement." "We want to suggest two things," Danforth said. "First of all, nothing good is going come to the various groups -- both the government and the SPLM -- if there is delay. We're therefore engaged in the so-called 'stick' aspect. But we also want to present the concept of the 'carrot,' namely that the international community will be there for the future of Sudan assuming that there is peace." "It is very important for both the government of Sudan and the SPLM to realize that when they're
[Ugnet] ..and the GUn culture continues to grow: 50 LDUs Escape With Guns
50 LDUs Escape With Guns Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site New Vision (Kampala) November 5, 2004 Posted to the web November 5, 2004 Kampala About 50 Kata Battalion local defence unit (LDUs) based in Bunambutye, Sironko district have fled into Kapchorwa, carrying guns acquired from their military barracks following payment of their salaries, a security source said. The source said the LDUs, who fled with official uniforms, are believed to be hiding in their home villages in Kwanyiy, Kabei, Kaproron and Bunyiny sub-counties in Kapchorwa district. The source, who sought anonymity, said Kapchorwa district security committee was searching for the deserters. "A security meeting to plead to their parents and local leaders to convince their sons to come back and resume duty or return the guns has been held," said William Kabarole, a senior mobiliser at the Kapchorwa resident district commissioner's (RDC's) office. Kabarole, who attended the meeting presided over by the RDC Joseph Arwata, said the LDUs were believed to have got excited following payment of their delayed salaries. Relevant Links East Africa Civil War and Communal Conflict Arms and Military Affairs Uganda Kabarole said the meeting resolved to use military force to recover guns from the deserters on failure to voluntarily return them. He said the deserters were given two days to comply. Senior presidential advisor Salimo Sabila, LC5 chairman Nelson Chelimo, DISO Lt. Wilson Adwan, OC/CID Christopher Kwerit and Commander Kata Battalion Capt. Mutei attended the meeting at Kaproron sub-county headquarters.__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] US Concerned Over Forced Shift of Sudan Civilians in Darfur
Everyday, this people bombard us with news about atrocities being committed by Jajaweed rebels in Dar fur region of the Sudan. As for us in Northern Uganda, we continue to suffer. NO US State Department releases. about the situation in Northern Uganda..they pretend northing is happening in Northern Uganda were 18 year old war launched by Museveni war machines has decimated Northern Uganda continues to inflict tremendous suffering on our people. I am not tired of this jajaweed story...One can only begin to take the US concerns about the situation in Darfar seriously if and when the US pays similar attention about what is going on in Northern Uganda. Besides there is the ISSUE of US CREDIBILITY why Dar far and not Northern Uganda.. Is one, if I might ask, pursuing a special "Agenda" over there in Dar far such that one is very concern about the situation over there..and less concerned about the situation in Northern Uganda...where one has NO special "agenda"?.. that then is the 500 Million dollar question? MK US Concerned Over Forced Shift of Sudan Civilians in Dar fur Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site United States Department of State (Washington, DC) DOCUMENTNovember 3, 2004 Posted to the web November 5, 2004 Washington, DC Statement by Richard Boucher On the Forced Relocation of Internally Displaced Persons from Al Geer village, South Darfur The United States strongly supports the United Nations Secretary General in expressing its deep concern over reports of ongoing Sudanese government efforts to forcibly relocate civilians from internally displaced persons camps in Al Geer village, South Darfur, and the denial of humanitarian access to these camps. Forcible relocation is in direct contravention of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and is a violation of Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1564. It is also inconsistent with the understanding reached between the Government of Sudan, the United Nations, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the necessity of any returns being voluntary. We call on the Government of Sudan to cease the forcible relocation of civilians, disengage forces surrounding other camps and allow humanitarian workers immediate access. The United States stands with the international community in holding the government of the Sudan responsible for the violations and requests immediate return of all the displaced persons moved to Al Geer. We also request active involvement of the UN, International Organizations, and the African Union in monitoring the safety of displaced persons and withdrawal of Government forces. The United States remains deeply concerned about the safety and security of Sudanese civilians in Darfur. The recent kidnapping of 18 hostages by the Darfur rebels is disturbing, as is the mobilization of thousands of Arab militia in areas of West and South Darfur. Both indicate that the parties to the conflict in Darfur are not serious about establishing peace. We urge all parties to immediately refrain from acts of violence as agreed to under the April 8 N'djamena Ceasefire Agreement and to support the African Union Mission in Sudan to establish peace and security in Darfur. We also urge the parties to rapidly sign humanitarian and security agreements at the African Union mediated talks in Abuja, Nigeria. Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] The Ultimate Felony Against Democracy
Go to Original
The Ultimate Felony Against Democracy By Thom HartmannCommonDreams.org
Thusday 4 November 2004
The hot story in the Blogosphere is that the "erroneous" exit polls that showed Kerry carrying Florida and Ohio (among other states) weren't erroneous at all - it was the numbers produced by paperless voting machines that were wrong, and Kerry actually won. As more and more analysis is done of what may (or may not) be the most massive election fraud in the history of the world, however, it's critical that we keep the largest issue at the forefront at all time: Why are We The People allowing private, for-profit corporations, answerable only to their officers and boards of directors, and loyal only to agendas and politicians that will enhance their profitability, to handle our votes?
Maybe Florida went for Kerry, maybe for Bush. Over time - and through the efforts of some very motivated investigative reporters - we may well find out (Bev Harris of www.blackboxvoting.org just filed what may be the largest Freedom of Information Act [FOIA} filing in history), and bloggers and investigative reporters are discovering an odd discrepancy in exit polls being largely accurate in paper-ballot states and oddly inaccurate in touch-screen electronic voting states Even raw voter analyses are showing extreme oddities in touch-screen-run Florida, and eagle-eyed bloggers are finding that news organizations are retroactively altering their exit polls to coincide with what the machines ultimately said.
But in all the discussion about voting machines, let's never forget the concept of the commons, because this usurpation is the ultimate felony committed by conservatives this year.
At the founding of this nation, we decided that there were important places to invest our tax (then tariff) dollars, and those were the things that had to do with the overall "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" of all of us. Over time, these commons - in which we all make tax investments and for which we all hold ultimate responsibility - have come to include our police and fire services; our military and defense; our roads and skyways; our air, waters and national parks; and the safety of our food and drugs.
But the most important of all the commons in which we've invested our hard-earned tax dollars is our government itself. It's owned by us, run by us (through our elected representatives), answerable to us, and most directly responsible for stewardship of our commons.
And the commons through which we regulate the commons of our government is our vote.
About two years ago, I wrote a story for these pages, "If You Want To Win An Election, Just Control The Voting Machines," that exposed how Senator Chuck Hagel had, before stepping down and running for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska, been the head of the voting machine company (now ES&S) that had just computerized Nebraska's vote. The Washington Post (1/13/1997) said Hagel's "Senate victory against an incumbent Democratic governor was the major Republican upset in the November election." According to Bev Harris, Hagel won virtually every demographic group, including many largely black communities that had never before voted Republican. Hagel was the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska, nearly all on unauditable machines he had just sold the state. And in all probability, Hagel run for President in 2008.
In another, later article I wrote at the request of MoveOn.org and which they mailed to their millions of members, I noted that in Georgia - another state that went all-electronic - "USA Today reported on Nov. 3, 2002, 'In Georgia, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll shows Democratic Sen. Max Cleland with a 49%-to-44% lead over Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss. 'Cox News Service, based in Atlanta, reported just after the election (Nov. 7) that, "Pollsters may have goofed" because 'Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Max Cleland by a margin of 53 to 46 percent. The Hotline, a political news service, recalled a series of polls Wednesday showing that Chambliss had been ahead in none of them.'" Nearly every vote in the state was on an electronic machine with no audit trail.
In the years since those first articles appeared, Bev Harris has published her book on the subject ("Black Box Voting"), including the revelation of her finding the notorious "Rob Georgia" folder on Diebold's FTP site just after Cleland's loss there; Lynn Landes has done some groundbreaking research, particularly her new investigation of the Associated Press, as have Rebecca Mercuri and David Dill. There's a new video out on the topic, Votergate, available at www.votergate.tv.
Congressman Rush Holt introduced a bill into Congress requiring a voter-verified paper ballot be produced by all electronic voting machines, and it's been co-sponsored by a majority of the members of the House of Representat
[Ugnet] Kerry Won
Kerry Won By Greg Palast TomPaine.com Thursday 04 November 2004 Kerry won. Here's the facts. I know you don't want to hear it. You can't face one more hung chad. But I don't have a choice. As a journalist examining that messy sausage called American democracy, it's my job to tell you who got the most votes in the deciding states. Tuesday, in Ohio and New Mexico, it was John Kerry. Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry. CNN's exit poll showed Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to 47 percent. Kerry also defeated Bush among Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state. So what's going on here? Answer: the exit polls are accurate. Pollsters ask, "Who did you vote for?" Unfortunately, they don't ask the crucial, question, "Was your vote counted?" The voters don't know. Here's why. Although the exit polls show that most voters in Ohio punched cards for Kerry-Edwards, thousands of these votes were simply not recorded. This was predictable and it was predicted. [See TomPaine.com, "An Election Spoiled Rotten," November 1.] Once again, at the heart of the Ohio uncounted vote game are, I'm sorry to report, hanging chads and pregnant chads, plus some other ballot tricks old and new. The election in Ohio was not decided by the voters but by something called "spoilage." Typically in the United States, about 3 percent of the vote is voided, just thrown away, not recorded. When the bobble-head boobs on the tube tell you Ohio or any state was won by 51 percent to 49 percent, don't you believe it ... it has never happened in the United States, because the total never reaches a neat 100 percent. The television totals simply subtract out the spoiled vote. And not all vote spoil equally. Most of those votes, say every official report, come from African American and minority precincts. (To learn more, click here.) We saw this in Florida in 2000. Exit polls showed Gore with a plurality of at least 50,000, but it didn't match the official count. That's because the official, Secretary of State Katherine Harris, excluded 179,855 spoiled votes. In Florida, as in Ohio, most of these votes lost were cast on punch cards where the hole wasn't punched through completely-leaving a 'hanging chad,'-or was punched extra times. Whose cards were discarded? Expert statisticians investigating spoilage for the government calculated that 54 percent of the ballots thrown in the dumpster were cast by black folks. (To read the report from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, click here.) And here's the key: Florida is terribly typical. The majority of ballots thrown out (there will be nearly 2 million tossed out from Tuesday's election) will have been cast by African American and other minority citizens. So here we go again. Or, here we don't go again. Because unlike last time, Democrats aren't even asking Ohio to count these cards with the not-quite-punched holes (called "undervotes" in the voting biz). Ohio is one of the last states in America to still use the vote-spoiling punch-card machines. And the Secretary of State of Ohio, J. Kenneth Blackwell, wrote before the election, the possibility of a close election with punch cards as the states primary voting device invites a Florida-like calamity. But this week, Blackwell, a rabidly partisan Republican, has warmed up to the result of sticking with machines that have a habit of eating Democratic votes. When asked if he feared being this year's Katherine Harris, Blackwell noted that Ms. Fix-it's efforts landed her a seat in Congress. Exactly how many votes were lost to spoilage this time? Blackwell's office, notably, won't say, though the law requires it be reported. Hmm. But we know that last time, the total of Ohio votes discarded reached a democracy-damaging 1.96 percent. The machines produced their typical loss-that's 110,000 votes-overwhelmingly Democratic. The Impact of Challenges First and foremost, Kerry was had by chads. But the Democrat wasn't punched out by punch cards alone. There were also the 'challenges.' That's a polite word for the Republican Party of Ohio's use of an old Ku Klux Klan technique: the attempt to block thousands of voters of color at the polls. In Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida, the GOP laid plans for poll workers to ambush citizens under arcane laws-almost never used-allowing party-designated poll watchers to finger individual voters and demand they be denied a ballot. The Ohio courts were horrified and federal law prohibits targeting of voters where race is a factor in the challenge. But our Supreme Court was prepared to let Republicans stand in the voting booth door. In the end, the challenges were not overwhelming, but they were there. Many apparently resulted in voters getting these funky "provisional" ballots-a kind of voting placebo-which may or may not be counted. Blackwell esti
[Ugnet] 200 Masaka Families Petition Over Eviction
We panka! 200 Masaka Families Petition Over Eviction Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site New Vision (Kampala) November 5, 2004 Posted to the web November 5, 2004 Dismus BuregyeyaKampala About 200 families in Bigasa sub-county in Masaka district have petitioned the resident district commissioner (RDC), Bamusede Bwambale, to save them from being evicted from their villages. In an October 29 letter addressed to the office of the RDC, the families said they were living under fear after their landlord, Kasule Jjingo, threatened to throw them out. The affected villages are Kayunga, Mbirizi, Bigasa, Mijunwa, Lutungunda, Kiganganzi, Kyalutanga, Butalaga, Lwemiyaga, Busagulo, Kyakapere and Kabalungi. The residents, led by Matia Kakooza, also appealed to Bwambale to stop delegating a cadre in his office, only identified as Eric, to handle their problems. Relevant Links East Africa Legal and Judicial Affairs Food, Agriculture and Rural Issues Uganda They said on Monday that Bwambale had earlier agreed to personally intervene in the matter. They vowed not to allow Jingo to evict them, saying they did not have anywhere to settle. Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] Indian farmers want Uganda land
That is not going to happen!!!Abayidi Bagude Dalu! Why the NRM bring Abayidi over here in Uganda..you mean we, Ugandans do not need land? MK Indian farmers want Uganda land By Frank Nyakairu & Grace Masiko Nov 7, 2004 KAMPALA Hundreds of debt-ridden Indian commercial farmers are lobbying government to allow them relocate to Uganda to start a new life. This follows committing of suicide by over 500 of their colleagues who were in distress since May this year. The farmers from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh want Uganda to allocate them 100,000 hectares of farmland, according to a Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) official, John Musajja Akawa. He told Sun day Monitor that a team led by Mr CC Reddy, an advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government is still in negotiations with government on the matter.Mr Musajja Akawa added: We are still considering their request and as soon as we agree we shall sign a memorandum of understanding. Information Minister, Nsaba Buturo says: The issue of land is not a problem and the state of our infrastructure is also not that prohibitive. He however cited political sabotage. The Pradesh state plans to send hundreds of farmers to East Africa to cultivate farmland. Pradesh has already been in talks with Kenya to lease 20, 000 hectares and send about 1, 000 farmers there to work, according to media reports. At least 502 farmers have killed themselves since May. © 2004 The Monitor Publications Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] beloved fellow citizens..things fall apart the centre cannot hold.. ..Achebe!!
Bidandi insulting me, says Museveni By Frank Nyakairu, Elias Biryabarema & Izama Angelo Nov 7, 2004 KAMPALA Political battle lines are getting clearly drawn between President Museveni and his former ally Bidandi Ssali. Mr Museveni yesterday reacted strongly to Mr Bidandis Thursday resignation as the second vice chairman of the NRM political organisation of which the President is interim head. Mr. Bidandi, this is not only a false-hood, but an insult to me, Museveni wrote in response to Bidandis charge in his resignation letter that the interim NRM chairman was emphasising money as a major force to fire up the partys support. Two weeks ago, the NRM gave Shs5 million to tens of Movement MPs reportedly as facilitation to go explain to constituents the Movement positions in the White Paper. When word leaked about the money, some politicians said it was sheer bribery meant to secure support in Parliament for a third presidential term (kisanja) for Museveni in 2006. MPs will vote whether to amend the constitutional article that bars a person from running for more than two five-year terms as President. Museveni said Bidandi, as a member of YK Museveni election task forces in the past two presidential elections, handed out money raised by Museveni to mobilise support, posing the question: Were you dishing out money to compromise the integrity of our supporters, then? The President suggested that Bidandi was bitter because the money didnt pass through him. Is it that when funds are not passed through you, it becomes dishing out money and, when it is passed through you, it is providing legitimate facilitation? Museveni wrote. Bidandi said yesterday that he was still reading the letter and I will respond to it when it is time.Uganda Peoples Congress James Rwanyarare described Museveni as vengeful man. Museveni is like that by nature, Mr Rwanyarare said. He is a vengeful man who wants to humiliate his opponents. I pray he does not harm Bidandi this time. Gulu Municipality MP Norbert Mao said Museveni was dodging core concerns and clouding them in unrelated issues. Museveni stands accused of dipping his fingers in the state Treasury to support his party, Mao said. Thats different from dishing out money. Mr Erias Lukwago of the Democratic Party said he did not discern anything offensive in Bidandis remarks. The man simply raised substantive issues. Bidandis resignation from NRM followed a critical letter in which he accused Museveni and NRM of undemocratic practices and obsession with kisanja at the expense of entrenching NRMs long-term goals. Then on Thursday, the day he quit his NRM job, Bidandi announced he would challenge Museveni, if he stands, in the 2006 presidential polls. In a related development, Bidandi has accused Mr Sam Kutesa, Ms Hope Mwesigye, Mr Moses Byaruhanga and Ms Anifa Kawoya of misleading the President. Speaking on 93.3 Kfms HardTalk show yesterday morning, Bidandi accused the four of leading the NRM astray by continuing to practice the individual merit principle within a political party. Kutesa is the MP for Mawogola and state minister for Finance, while Mwesigye is the minister for parliamentary affairs. Byaruhanga is the Presidents special assistant on political affairs, and Kawoya is the woman MP for Sembabule district. The President has a problem; its a human problem, said Bidandi whom Museveni sacked as local government minister in May last year for his opposition to the third term project. The style of leadership under the Movement system individual merit system is quite different from the style of leadership under a multiparty system. See Musevenis letter to Bidandi Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] quote of the day
Mr Erias Lukwago of the Democratic Party said he did not discern anything offensive in Bidandis remarks. The man simply raised substantive issues. The man simply raised Substantive Issues! .. I like that quote MATEK__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] Kisanja cash records stolen paymaster
Kisanja cash records stolen paymaster By Mwanguhya Charles Mpagi Nov 7, 2004 MP Byenkya returns third term money KAMPALA Ms Anifa Kawoya says a register she kept of Movement MPs who picked up Shs5 million each to support a third term for President Museveni has been stolen. "They stole my yellow book," said Kawoya, the Sembabule Woman MP, who paid out money at Mosa Courts Apartments nearly two weeks ago. "I had my yellow book with a long list of all my kisanja [pro-third term] people and they stole it at Parliament. I don't know who stole it. I raised the matter at Parliament, but I could not recover it. I have bought another yellow book and I keep it with my list under my armpit."She lashed out at MPs crying foul over the distribution of the kisanja money. She particularly attacked Mr Kibale Wambi (Budadiri County East, Sironko) who on Monday narrated in detail how ministers lined up to sign for their share at the apartments on Nile Avenue. "All Wambi said is trash. Saying that I was swimming in a sack of money? How could he tell that the hand he saw coming from under the table was my hand?" she said. Kawoya questioned the morality of Wambi and Mr Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga) who accused the NRM of wasting taxpayer money to buy off MPs to support the third term. She wondered why they chose to line up for the money and then turned around and claimed they were being bribed. "It beats my understanding that somebody goes to a meeting where he has not been invited, picks a voucher and then he is told he is not on the list and then returns to say he could not accept a bribe. What is the logic?" she said. Kawoya is among three major distributors of the kisanja mobilisation cash along with Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Hope Mwesigye, and Movement Parliamentary Caucus Chairman Charles Bakkabulindi. "It is time for mobilisation. That money shows that I am doing my mobilisation. I am not a woman who courts the press. I am a woman of action," she boasted. Meanwhile, Mr Bakkabulindi dismissed earlier reports that different amounts were paid to ministers and ordinary MPs. "I was the one in charge and it is not true that ministers got a different figure. To make sure that the money was the same, we even printed the figure. The MPs could only write in the constituency and name," he said. He also dismissed reports that the money was drawn from Bank of Uganda.In another development, Hoima woman MP Beatrice Byenkya returned Shs 5 million kisanja money to the Movement Caucus officials who distributed it. Twice Ms Byenkya declined to comment on the matter we reached her. "I am not talking," she said. I am not ready to divulge anything." Sources said, however, that the MP returned the money last Wednesday because she could not have it and live with a clear conscience. She reportedly said that much as she supports the third term, she does not need to be bribed for it. © 2004 The Monitor Publications Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
[Ugnet] MP bribes: pray for dear country
MP bribes: pray for dear country News that our honourable Membes of Parliament feasted on Shs 5 million each, as a bribe to vote for Ekisanja or lifting of the constitutional ban on presidential term limits (The Monitor of October 28, 2004) did not come as a surprise. It had, for long, been an open secret that the legislato rs would be compromised to support lifting of the ban. It is however very frightening to us ordinary people to learn that decent and honourable men and women (if they are, anyway) have stooped this low. Our President has got all the guns and soldiers. Why doesnt he just abrogate his own Constitution and declare himself eligible for another Kisanja or even life president instead of wasting taxpayers money on bribes? Why use illegitimate means like bribing MPs when there is a short and inexpensive method? By giving bribes to Members of Parliament, our president is committing two wrongs; illegal tinkering with the constitution and bribery. Only God knows the future of this country. For us the common men, let us just pray. And since the First Lady is a saved person, let me urge her and her family to pray alongside other Ugandans, otherwise our country will be doomed M. Luyiga,Kampala. Dr Ssemo Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com___ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
