CITIZEN ALERT v1.118CHINA SAYS STAY THE COURSE

Today saw the highest death toll for Chinese and coalition forces since May of this year after two roadside bombs killed 17 soldiers outside of Dallas, TX and Long Beach in the state of California a port city near Los Angeles.

In addition a suicide bomber, exploded a truck at a checkpoint outside of Washington D.C. killing 4 soldiers and 15 civilians in what PRC General Qinling called "proof positive that terrorists cells had existed inside the United States" before the 2007 invasion.

Speaking with troops gathered at Camp Huang He just outside of Reston, VA, Qinling called for "unity among the coalition for the long war" and "unity among the American people who have longed for real freedom for generations".

Opponents in the ROC continue to assert that Chinese and coalition forces must begin to withdraw by next year before the United States slides into a civil war.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.117FRIST SELF-LIMITS

I can't believe I'm saying this, but all elected officials should follow in Bill Frist's example.

I wanted you to hear from me directly, before you heard it on the news.

Twelve years ago, I pledged to the people of Tennessee that I would serve two terms in the Senate - to serve as a true citizen legislator - and then return home. I said I’d come to the Senate with 20 years experience in healing, spend 12 years serving in Washington, then go right back to Tennessee to live where I grew up. And I will do just that.

That decision to self-limit my term was grounded then, and rests now, on a firm belief that change in public service and politics is healthy. That it fundamentally forces a perspective of purpose and a sharp focus on service and results. It reminds all participants that they just occupy a position for a period of time. And it liberates one to concentrate every day on serving those who are represented, not to preserve one’s own station.

I’ve known everyday for the last 12 years that I would spend two terms and no more in the legislative branch. The time for Karyn and me to leave Washington has arrived and we do so with great respect for the institution of the Senate and my colleagues, for our government, for our President, for our democracy, and for the principles of freedom and liberty upon which our country was founded.

People ask about the future for Karyn and me. What is next?

We are ready to return to Nashville and private life. We will seek the best opportunity to serve mankind. We will stay actively involved in formulating innovative solutions to the seemingly insurmountable problems that face Americans every day -- high cost of health care, energy dependence, the threat of radical Islam.

I may return to what I’ve done for most of my adult life: heal through medicine (the way I saw my dad serve since I was a little boy riding around with him, his black doctor’s bag tucked between us, as he’d travel the neighborhood making house calls).

I, of course, will immediately resume my regular medical mission trips as a doctor around the world to serve those in poverty, in famine, and in civil war. That is where my centeredness is fueled.

Politics is a noble occupation. Healing is a noble profession. Service to others underlies both. Karyn and I, and our three boys, now three young men, thank you for our opportunity to serve.

I look forward to continue working with you through VOLPAC. At the beginning of next year, we'll launch a revamped website and internet operation that refocuses our efforts in support of Republican candidates and centers our ongoing discussion on the challenges facing our country.

To keep the discussion going, I will also launch a national summit or series of summits focusing on important issues such as America’s dangerous dependence on foreign sources of energy and the high cost of health care.

More details to follow on these ideas and the exciting changes VOLPAC will make in the days ahead...

CITIZEN ALERT v1.116QUESTION OF THE DAY

In California, 65% of emancipated foster youth lack stable housing. Ever notice that children "aged out" out of foster care at the exact time that the armed services will take them?

Does anyone know of proposed legislation or alternative programs here in California similiar to ones in states like Iowa where the foster care age is increased to 21 or 22 years old? If you got the time and your home today, Google your brains out and forward me what you find to:

bobotadrenaline@yahoo.com

I'm looking for any studies or programs that decrease homelessness by increasing the foster care "age out" limit. You see, a large percentage of homeless people fall into the 18-24 year old bracket. Of the 18-19 year olds, something like 61% are from foster homes and 34% of the 20 and up are also from foster care.

I'll be looking also, let me know what you find.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.1151-4-2-1

Much to my delight I learned a little something this weekend not from the news, or a book or a newsletter, but from Citizen Alert reader Matt, who posted a news article about Cindy Sheehan which led me to do some research of my own on the subject.

In part of the article, it discussed her trip to South Korea and the village of Daechuri where farmers are locked in a sometimes violent protest against their government. The reason: U.S. Camp Humphrey's planned expansion west of 2,851 acres and into the Daechuri farms.

The Korean government obliged the U.S. base by reclaiming the farmland through imminent domain. The farmers disagreed. They have staged protests, roadblocks, and in return the government has torn down their school, ripped up their irrigation pump, filled their canal with concrete, and arrested many of the protesters.

This is the beginning of a global repositioning of U.S. forces that's goal is to allow the U.S. to:

1) fully defend the United States; [preemptive war]

2) maintain forces capable of "deterring aggression and coercion" in four "critical regions" (Europe, Northeast Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East/Southwest Asia); [occupy four regions at the same time]

3) maintain the ability to defeat aggression in two of these regions simultaneously; [wage two wars at the same time]

4) and be able to "win decisively" up to and including forcing regime change and occupying a country in one of those conflicts "at a time and place of our choosing." [run at least one of those countries ourselves]

This is known as the "1-4-2-1 defense strategy" found in The U.S. Global Posture Review: Reshaping America's Global Military Footprint.

more to come...

CITIZEN ALERT v1.114ASIA'S BLACKHOLE

Something to ponder for Monday's Citizen Alert.

A night time satellite image of the Korean peninsula showing South Korea and North Korea.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.113INSPECTOR WAXMAN, I PRESUME

Check out this story about California's own HENRY WAXMAN and get to know a little about the guy who is going to be making life miserable for George W. Bush over the next 2 years.

FULL STORY CLICK HERE

CITIZEN ALERT v1.112PUTIN

It has been discovered now that the former KGB spy, Alexander Litvinenko, who had been criticizing Putin from his deathbed had the "radioactive element polonium-210" found in his urine. This means he either inhaled it or ingested it some how.

Awhile back there was that female reporter who was critical of Putin and was found gunned down in her own apartment building and now this.

Putin is a little beyond creepy now!

Litvinenko told police that he believed he had been poisoned on Nov. 1, while investigating the slaying of crusading journalist Anna Politkovskaya. His hair fell out, his throat became swollen, and his immune and nervous systems were severely damaged.

FULL STORY HERE

CITIZEN ALERT v1.111THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving from CITIZEN ALERT your pass into the alternative news world, the flipside of the coin, the extra mile, the peek behind the curtain!

We want to thank all the readers and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving as we sit with our families and celebrate this time in our country's history where some pilgrims came together with the Pokanoket and their chief Massasoit who had helped in keeping the new settlers from starving to death. They held a great feast that lasted 3 days and in return, they gave Massasoit a nasty disease that he later died from. When his son succeeded him they shot him dead, and when the 2nd son succeeded that one, they killed him, sold his wife and children into slavery and then chopped off his head and stuck it on a pike outside Fort Plymouth for two decades.

Come on...who had to have seen that one coming!

Happy Turkey Day!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.110WHY MATT DANIELS IS A DUMBASS

Matt Daniels, author of the Marriage Protection Amendment, and founder of the Alliance for Marriage, has just released a "confidential" newsletter this week which I received because I sign up for everything baby! I read it all!!

Anyway, this is a guy who's made it his purpose in life to stop gay people from using the word marriage to describe their relationships when they decide to...well...get married. It's a tough job. It seems as if the whole world's against him. It's sooo tough, he's now likened his struggle in taking away the basic civil rights of gay Americans to the civil right activists who marched alongside Dr. King!

As we continue to build our national movement, we would do well to remember what my friend Dr. Walter Fauntroy, organizer of the March on Washington for Martin Luther King, once said when a reporter derisively commented on the difficulty of advancing our cause in Congress:

"As Dr. King's personal representative to the House and Senate, I can remember how our efforts to pass the Civil Rights Act were met with opposition year after year. We faced hostile committee chairmen. We faced hostile leaders in both parties - including many powerful Congressmen from the South. We also faced the scorn of some in the media. But we knew that our cause was just. And we knew that most Americans of goodwill supported our cause. So we came back year after year. At the time, we had a simple saying - and it's the same saying that would apply to the cause
of protecting marriage in our day. We used to say We Shall Overcome."

Eeegads! Well, let's go back to his newsletter. It seems Matt's come up with a two year plan.

I'm writing to you to give you a confidential overview of AFM's plans to advance our cause of strengthening and protecting marriage in America over the next two years.

Our opposition [that's the gay people] is engaged in a long-term effort to destroy marriage through the courts. In so doing, they will deeply advance the social damage of family disintegration in our society. They will also set the stage for the persecution of every community in America whose beliefs on the subject of marriage they deem to be a form of hatred and bigotry. Given the reality of this threat, we cannot afford to have any less of a long-term perspective.

Hmmm, we think that people who believe marriage is soley for a man and a woman, and any other belief is wrong makes them a bigot? That can't be what we think, let me look up the word bigot.

BIGOT: a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.

Oh. Well, then yeah I guess we do. Sorry, my mistake.

And it's not an effort to DESTROY marriage dumbass, it's an effort to join in. And what's with the advancing social damage of family disintergration? Do they really think the more gay people marry one another that less and less heterosexuals will populate the planet. Ask yourself, how many gay friends do you have? Think of any of your gay friends and ask yourself, are both their parents gay? Gay people come from hetrosexual parents 99.9% of the time I'd wager. So, in reality, HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGE IS DESTROYING THE FAMILY STRUCTURE by producing homosexual people. The nerve of them!

For example, in the aftermath of the 1994 elections, radical [radical means someone they don't agree with] activists recognized they would no longer be able to advance their political agenda through the federal legislative process. Thus, these radical groups turned their political machinery and resources to the state legislative process to advance their agenda. In turn, these efforts at the state level provided the foundation for the legislative agenda of these groups in the current Congress.

I for one thought this was the route to go for the same sex marriage proponents. I thought if they gave up the federal fight and fought their battles state by state they'd find it easier. Well, as it turns out, I was very very wrong. They have won a few battles though and this is freaking Matt Daniels out so they have decided to go state to state as well.

Now, on the flipside of all this, as much as I support same sex couples getting married, mainly because I really really don't care, I have yet to understand why they wouldn't stop at civil unions. The word marriage, the institution, it's straight out of a religious base that absolutely rejects them. If they get everything they want out of civil unions, and it should be fixed so that they do, then I really don't get what the extra fuss is other than wanting to rub the moral majority's face in the fact that the human condition is passing them by.

It's a like a black man fighting for the right to join and all white club, and then also wanting to join the KKK as well. I mean, yeah I guess I support you but why would you want to?!

BREAKING NEWS JUST AN HOUR AGO.

Bush's daughter had her purse stolen at a restaurant in Argentina while under guard by the Secret Service. Hmmm. Someone's getting fired. If she had a camera phone in there, this could get interesting.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.109THE JEDI ARE AMONG US

I was planning a little blog about the Alliance for Marriage's two year plan to defend us against the radical left, but I'm still working on it.

But this little diddy from the Center for American Progressive was just too funny:

The Force is not strong with the UN. “Last week, two self-proclaimed Jedi Knights appealed to the United Nations to recognize their faith as an official religion and accordingly rename the International Day for Tolerance to Interstellar Day of Tolerance. The petition from Britons John Wilkinson and Charlotte Law, who call themselves Umada and Yunyun, comes after a 2001 British census recorded 400,000 people who ‘practice’ the Jedi faith.” The UN was not supportive of the Jedis’ proposal. “The UN is not in the business of certifying religions,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. “With or without light sabers.”

CITIZEN ALERT v1.108A MILITARY DRAFT IN AMERICA?

Before everyone gets into a tizzy about Senior Democrat U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel calling for legislation to reinstate the draft this past weekend, take a look at it in its context. It is basically, as it was back in 2003 when he first introduced it, his version of an anti-war, get out of Iraq campaign.

Rangel said on Face the Nation this past weekend that "If we're going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can't do that without a draft."

Now, what does his legislation look like? It’s very simple, EVERYONE is eligible for the draft – no special treatment – and that includes the children of all the congressmen and women who are voting for these military conflicts. He’s basically putting them into a corner by saying, if you want to take over the world, then you have to have more troops, no way around it, and if you have to have more troops then you have to draft them, and if you have to draft them, then everyone is getting drafted. Your own kids will not be safe; the poor people of this country are not going to go fight your wars for you. If you want sacrifice, then start with your own.

This legislation will be shot down just as it was in 2003, showing the American people exactly what the upper crust in this country really think about serving their country in a time of war. To the hawks in Washington, sacrifice starts on the other side of the tracks. They start the war, you fight them, and they reap the benefits. Rangel is saying no more! If you start them, then your children will fight them too, knowing full well they won’t sign on for that, so it follows – you don’t get your war then.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.107UNDER THE MILKYWAY

Why no Saturday Citizen Alert? Well, I DJed at Kiss or Kill on Friday, didn't get to bed to 4am, woke up early to go do my music workshop at the youth drop in center I volunteer at, then I drive out to Oxnard to play a show with Bobot, and now, it's 2:30am and I'm gonna be up for a another hour or so waiting for the Leonid Meteor shower. If you've never seen it, it's awesome and worth the late hours.

Tonight, I saw an excellent collection of photography by Che Guevara's personal photographers. Very cool stuff.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.106THE MOB GROWS RESTLESS

Man, some people are really getting irate that the DEMS after winning the mid-terms didn't rush right out and start building a case to impeach President Bush. To add insult to injury, Pelosi stated the next day that impeachment was off the table.

I'm the first to admit, I said it right here in Citizen Alert, that I thought it was a good idea to forget the impeachment, and just to get on with business. Thinking back, I was just so elated that we won that I didn't really care at the time. Don't get me wrong, I think the country was intentionally misled, and for that there should be consequences. I guess, I was just being a bit of a realist. I know no one's ever going to be impeached for this, so I was just not getting myself all worked up for nothing. People in D.C. are rewarded for doing devious stuff, not punished. Look up where all the players in Watergate ended up. Most survived it in the long run.

Remember though, I also said right here in Citizen Alert that the Vice President should be impeached. It was Cheney's office and Rumsfeld's office that filtered the intelligence that the White House received. The blame lands squarely on them. So, let me redress my rebel attitude and say that I am indeed for the censuring or impeachment or criminal indictment of Cheney and/or Rumsfeld, but partisan or not, politicians will protect their own to a certain extent which is why I don't see it happening.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.105HOYER STANDS UP FOR D.C.!

I watched the Democrats congratulating each other after the leadership elections this morning on CSPAN, and was pleasantly stunned when newly elected House majority leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland threw out - almost as an afterthought at the end of his speech - that he would be working with Pelosi to help the disenfranchised of our nation's capital, Washinton D.C., by getting them real representation in Congress.



Wow! I like that! I've always that it was ridiculous that a country that was jump started on the principle of no taxation without representation would have the people living in its capital not represented.



From the Wikipedia:

Citizens of the District have no voting representation in Congress. They are represented in the House of Representatives by a non-voting delegate who sits on committees and participates in debate but cannot vote. D.C. has no representation at all in the Senate. Attempts to change this situation, including the proposed District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, have been unsuccessful.

Now, Hoyer is probably on point with this issue since a lot of discussion as always centered around having the people of D.C. represented by the congressmen and women of Maryland since that's where the Federal City is located.

Alright, go DEMS! Now, stop posing for pictures and get to work!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.104WINNING GLOBAL WARMING DEBATES

Winning debates can be fun, and all you need is a little practice and maybe a few crib notes. People sometimes ask if I have any Republican friends, and of course I do! As a matter a fact I really enjoy talking to Republicans more than my liberal friends, because I know my liberal friends and I already agree on most everything, so you're not really going to learn anything.

Having a debate with a REPUB is a little more fun. You learn where your arguments are weak and then you can go back, do a little research and come back at them. I never mind losing a debate, because I know when I come back out for the second round I won't lose that same argument again.

This leads me to todays topic - global warming. Take for instance, my dad, a Republican, who I took to see Al Gore's film and he came out of it saying, "Pepper, you can't believe all that." So, when faced with such a non-believer I found an awesome website that breaks down the global warming argument into sections and then gives you the answers you need to Win the Climate debate.

HOW TO TALK TO A CLIMATE SKEPTIC

CITIZEN ALERT v1.103CHAOS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

McCain appeared on Meet the Press this Sunday saying that more troops would be needed to bring a victory in Iraq and that we were going to win or lose this thing in the next several months. He also drug out the old " if we just up and leave Iraq the region will fall into chaos".

I agree. The region will fall into chaos, but since when has the American government been concerned about the middle east falling into chaos. IT'S ALWAYS BEEN IN CHAOS! And the US has had a hand in creating a lot of it. Iraq and Iran were at war with each other for 8 years. Iran fighting with American made weapons and Iraq receiving help from...hello...America! It was our way of boxing Iran in. Chaos has been created by outside forces in the region forever, so what we call chaos, I think they'd call it a day in the life.

Right now, I'm reading an article on the US immigration problem in the new Foreign Affairs by Tamar Jacoby. It's a great read, and I highly recommend it. I'll try and discuss it sometime this week.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.102IRAQ STUDY GROUP

President Bush meets with the ISG today to see if they will be able to show the President a new direction in Iraq that won't end in us staying there for 10 years. If you are unfamiliar with this group it is headed up by James Baker, former Sec. of Treasury and Sec. of State , and Lee Hamilton the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission.

People everywhere are putting a lot of faith in the fact that this group will save our country from the mess that is Iraq. Some pundits such as Daniel Levy from the New America Foundation are calling on the group to widen its scope to include the Gaza conflict.

This weekend on the news shows, pundits likened Baker to one of those deprogrammers sent by the Reagan conservatives to rescue poor George from the cult of neocons he has surrounded himself with.

Out of this commission comes President Bush's nominee for Sec. of Defense, Robert Gates, former CIA Director and President of Texas A&M. So, when the Texan President starts telling Aggie jokes and you're wondering what the heck an Aggie is - it's a person from Texas A&M.

Example: Did you know that there are three types of Aggies? Those who can count and those who can't.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.101ON PARADE

While out walking my dog, Camus, I stumbled onto a Veteran's Day parade in my neighborhood complete with cheerleaders, American Flags, my congressman, a lot of Vets, and a cast member of M.A.S.H. There was also, one lone protester who pulled up in her car, and even though I couldn't hear what she was screaming, she was letting everybody have it. Congressman Becerra just waved at her and invite her to join in.

Now, I do enjoy a good parade, and I've always appreciated what our armed services do for us. Even though I'm a very anti-war liberal, I do realize that it's a violent world out there and a well armed military is needed to protect us, so I'm all for giving them a parade once a year.

But I got to thinking as I sat there and watched the Korean vets walk by and the woman protester scream her anti-war speech at them; why do we celebrate war so much? Is it because it's our biggest export? Why do we focus on such a low point in our humanity - heroic as some individuals are during these dismal times in human history - why do we focus on them so much? Again, I have a lot of respect for our troops, but why do we have two holidays for them - one for the ones who have served and one for the ones who have died - but we don't have a holiday or say a parade celebrating say all the Red Cross workers who have saved so many lives. I got to thinking why don't you ever see any Red Cross parades, or have a Red Cross Day.

Well, I looked it up - Googled it when I got home and lo and behold, we DO have a Red Cross Day. It's May 8th the birthday of its founder Henry Dunant. Well, why don't we have a parade for these guys. Why don't we celebrate America going out into the world and helping the sick, the wounded, the helpless. Why do the darkest days in our history warrant such jubilation, yet a day the celebrates common decency is an unknown?

One day I'd like to walk through my neighborhood and stumbled onto a parade celebrating the volunteers who work at homeless shelters across the country feeding and clothing the homeless.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.100CA's 100th POST!

A milestone! Hmmm. How to celebrate CITIZEN ALERT'S 100th post? First let's talk Frist.

I am subscribed to many Senator's newsletters on both sides of the aisle, Bill Frist being one of them. Here's some of what he had to say after the election as he described the "wave of voter anger" and tried to analyze why the Republicans had fallen from grace.

Being a physician and scientist, I can’t help but want to analyze the details of these national election results. I’ve only started that process, but at first glance, the one glaring data point is the need for a clearly defined strategy in Iraq.

So, one day before the election the DEMS have no plan for Iraq, and the REPUBS do. One day after the election, suddenly they never had a plan for Iraq. Hmmmm.

I thought the best way to celebrate 100 posts is to look at what Pelosi has planned for the House in the first 100 hours.

Day One: Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation."

Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Time remaining until 100 hours: Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, maybe in one step. Cut the interest rate on student loans in half. Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients.

Broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds _ "I hope with a veto-proof majority," she added in an Associated Press interview Thursday.

All the days after that: "Pay as you go," meaning no increasing the deficit, whether the issue is middle class tax relief, health care or some other priority.

To do that, she said, Bush-era tax cuts would have to be rolled back for those above "a certain level." She mentioned annual incomes of $250,000 or $300,000 a year and higher, and said tax rates for those individuals might revert to those of the Clinton era. Details will have to be worked out, she emphasized.

"We believe in the marketplace," Pelosi said of Democrats, then drew a contrast with Republicans. "They have only rewarded wealth, not work."

"We must share the benefits of our wealth" beyond the privileged few, she added.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.99A LEG UP FOR THE SOAW

From the School of the Americas Watch:

The midterm elections results represent a victory for all grassroots activists working to hold the U.S. Congress accountable for failed policies and misplaced priorities. Over 20 of our opponents of the June 2006 amendment have lost their seats in the House surpassing the 15 vote margin we need to win a vote in Congress.

With this new and more favorable Congress, we expect a successful vote on the SOA/WHINSEC. The next few months will be a crucial time for SOA Watch as we work to connect with these new Members of Congress, educate them about this important issue, and urge them to support closure of the school.

If you're Representative or Senator changed, then give them a call and tell them to CLOSE THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS. Fight the war on terror by closing ALL the terrorist camps, even the one in Ft. Benning, Georgia.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.98THE CLIMB TO THE HIGH ROAD

Well, it's funny how things just seem to work out your way sometimes. What an incredible night. Things started to fall in line how I had imagined they would, but then they just kept getting better!

The DEMS took the House back with a 33 seat advantage, and grabbed 28 governerships. I was quite happy with the 3 or 4 Senate seats we had when I went to bed, but today taking control of the Senate, and then Rumsfeld resigning after Pelosi puts her foot down. Wow!

Now, let's look at what happened and why, cause I think it's of the utmost importance. Forget the campaigning details or the REPUBS party splintering on issues like say immigration. (Remember Bush carried like 44% of the Hispanic vote in 2004. What do think those voters did when the GOP decided we needed to fence off Mexico. Voted Democrat 3 to 1, you betcha! But forget all that!)

On Tuesday, the American people corrected a serious mistake. Since Reagan, and really further back than that with some exception, the people of America have voiced their support for the checks and balances that we pride ourselves on time and time again. When we have had a REPUB President we've had a DEM congress (Carter exception). That's the way America likes to play. I used to think we just wanted to insure that nothing ever got done, but after 5 years of getting stuff done, I'm backing the checks and balances again.

When Clinton took over the White House, the American people voted his checks and balances into the Congress in 1994. Those same checks and balances would have remained in place in 2000 if the votes of the American people had been upheld, but the 2000 election which Gore actually won fell victim to politics and our democracy was dealt a serious blow as a REPUB president stood side by side with a REPUB congress. It was not supposed to happen that way. Four years later in the middle of a war on two fronts, the American people were tricked once again into playing along with this fluke.

Well, we corrected that fluke Tuesday night. Things can take time in politics, but we finally set this country back on its feet by having two sides to the story, two sides to the debate. We need the DEMS to rein in those "psycho" Neocons who want to rule the world, and we need the GOP to kick the pansy DEMS in the butt and get them to stop sitting on their hands when someones about to shoot at us. This is what America told our government on election day; we ran from the extremes and into the safety of some middle ground.


I am also proud of the DEMS for selecting the first woman in US History to lead the House - Nancy Pelosi. I am extremely proud of Pelosi for setting a tone from day one of bipartisanship. I even think she put it in writing somewhere. This is the kind of feminine common sense we needed around Capital Hill where we look more toward getting the work done instead of letting our testosterone get the better of us and looking for payback. Believe me, I know the REPUBS are owed a lot of payback, but the DEMS must not go down that road. Pelosi has the right idea, NO IMPEACHMENT (what? You really want President Cheney?!), and NO REVENGE OR INTIMIDATION.

Let that be the legacy of the 109th Congress. Let the GOP be the ones remembered for being the most corrupt congress in history with their indictments and secrecy and pedophiles. The DEMS will extend a helping hand across the aisle and work in unison to fix this mess in Iraq and at home. Nancy Pelosi must be the Mother of All Houses. She must rule with not only that gavel but a nice hard ruler to smack the hands of the first little schoolboys who want to throw a punch. Believe me, the polite pats on the back will not last for long. Someone's gonna throw the first punch sooner or later, and Pelosi better squash whoever it is into the ground.

And if Bush follows the DEMS lead then he too can benefit. Politicians have thick skins when it comes to campaigning. Strong words have flown between Bush and the Democratic party over the past five years, but with the election over, politicians can easily tuck their pride away and move forward if they want to. Look at how far Bush and McCain have come since they battled it out in their own primary way back when.

Bush has a real chance now to pull his failed presidency out of the nosedive that it is in, and if he sticks to the bipartisan road, I'll be there cheering him on. Afterall, even though I enjoy wearing my t-shirt that says he's not, he is, infact, my president too. It's in my best interest - it's in everyone's best interest to see our country succeed, and with our votes on Tuesday, I think we have given President Bush the guidance he needs to set us on that course.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.97ELECTION WRAP UP

Well, as CITIZEN ALERT prepares to call it a night and head to bed, the country is looking mighty BLUE.

As my predictions went, the DEMS did take back the House, stronger than I thought they would.

Schwarzenegger did hold on for a second term, but this time with a Democractic Attny General who opposes the death penalty! Ha! Gotta love that.

And the DEMS have picked up the 4 seats that I figured they'd get, but as of 1:27am PST, they are in the lead to pick up 2 more giving them the 6 they need to control the Senate. Wow! That was shocking. Montana and Virginia what will the morning bring? A recount I'm sure for Virginia, but a DEM upset in Montana? Who knows?

Now, we're going to see a new Presidency start to unfold tomorrow. Until today Bush has had to cooperate with no one - both House and Senate lending their rubber stamps to anything he chose to champion - but now we'll get to see what kind of politician George W. Bush really is.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.96RED ALERT! TIME TO VOTE!

As you know a CITIZEN RED ALERT requires you to do something for your government or country. Today obviously it is to VOTE in the mid term elections. This is an extremely important election that may or may not change the direction the country is headed in.

It is of the utmost importance that you and your roommates and your family get out to the polls. Do not listen to the talk that the Democrats are going to sweep anything. As it stands right now, CITIZEN ALERT would predict:

a WIN for Governor Schwarzenegger in California

the DEMS eeking out a win in the HOUSE

the REPUBS holding on to the SENATE but losing maybe 3 or 4 seats.

You can change this by not leaving it up to someone else and running down to your polling place usually located within walking distance of your home (mine always is).

GO VOTE!!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.95CALIFORNIA VOTE 2006 HELP

This site is an awesome resource for everyone trying to make heads or tails of the Propositions and the Measures.

For one, you should start off by Googling your proposition, for example: Proposition 88 + California + 2006. That's gonna bring you some hits from some analysts that you can browse through and understand exactly what it's about.

Then go to this website:

http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Campaign/Measures/

Select the Prop or Measure you want to investigate, then you can select the committee that is FOR or that is OPPOSED to it. Click on CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED and that will tell you who is backing it money wise and that can often lend a helping hand in your decision making.

For example, Prop 88, the $50 property tax, is opposed by small businesses, farmers, and the list goes on and on. I just looked up who's supporting Prop 88 and was beyond surprised to find out it was......NETFLIX! You heard me, NETFLIX! Reed Hastings from Netflix and some John Doerr venture capitalist guy. I guess Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, is trying to stick it to Blockbusters since they have so many stores and he's mail order.

AMAZING WHAT YOU CAN FIND ON THE INTERNET!

This website rules!!!!

So, get out to vote tomorrow. I didn't get a chance to BANK my vote like I said I was going to because I was still researching the votes, but I'm dropping off my absentee ballot at my polling places in the morning.

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

CITIZEN ALERT v1.94DESERT CROSSING

An Action Report has been made public called DESERT CROSSING which was a war game played out back in 1999 about a possible invasion, occupation and reconstruction of Iraq. The gaming determined that the U.S. would need at least 400,000 troops and yet this would still leave the country in a complete mess.

Even more significantly, the former CENTCOM commander noted that his plan had called for a force of 400,000 for the invasion -- 240,000 more than what Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld approved. "We were concerned about the ability to get in there right away, to flood the towns and villages," USA Today quoted Zinni as saying in July 2003. "We knew the initial problem would be security."

Army General Thomas "Tommy" Franks adjusted the concept when he assumed command of CENTCOM upon Zinni's retirement. Yet even his initial version of OPLAN 1003-98 envisioned a need for 385,000 troops, according to the book, COBRA II, -- before Rumsfeld insisted that the number be sharply reduced.

We currently have some where in the neighborhood of 144,000-160,000 troops in Iraq.

You can check out the report here.

Hopefully later tonight I will have time to post some last minute election tidbits.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.93SADDAM SENTENCED TO DEATH

Late night/early morning Citizen Alert update...

Saddam Hussein has just been sentenced to death by hanging. He has ten days to appeal and after the appeal must be executed within 30 days.

This is what the Republicans have been waiting for all week: a huge story to bury the bad press and pundit predictions of their party's demise right before the election.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.92WATCHES

I watched yet another Republican, this time Jack Kingston from Georgia, assert that the reason we haven't been attacked inside the US in 6 years since 9/11 is because of the Republicans.

Let me say this once again. After the WTC bombing in '93 we weren't attacked FOR 7 YEARS! That is until Bush and his administration took over.

When Republicans say we haven't been attacked in 6 years, remember WHEN we were attacked - ON THEIR WATCH!

The Saddam verdict is set to come in today so stay tuned for a media blitz across the board if it does in fact stay on schedule.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.91MEASURE M = MEASURE MMMMPEACHMENT

Berkeley City Council unanimously approved for the ballot back in June a "Measure Meant to Raise Awareness About Bush's 'High Crimes'". Voters, come election day, will now vote on whether to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

The measure though is merely an advisory tactic since only the House of Representatives can impeach a president, but it would make quite the little news story if it passed, and it has quite the chance of doing so since Bush carried only 7% of the Berkeley vote back in 2004.

The measure cites violation of international law, unwarranted domestic surveillance and the use of misleading evidence leading to the invasion of Iraq as grounds for impeachment.

CITIZEN ALERT v1.90REPUBLICANS AGENDA TO SAVE AMERICAN LIVES

The Republican majority Senate in May voted to make English the official language of the United States of America. This insured that all TV commercials, Circuit City store hours, and stop signs would be written in English and not in Portuguese like over half of them had been.

LIVES SAVED: 1,000,000-3,000,000

The Republican congress pushes to outlaw the burning of the American Flag to insure that extremely patriotic peoples across the nation do not drop dead at the sight of Ole Glory burning in front of some federal building on CNN.

LIVES SAVED: 6,000,000-12,500,000 of these probably 38,000 construction workers would have been saved meaning: HOSPITALS BUILT: 150

The Republican party and President Bush continue to push states to adopt the Defense of marriage amendments and strike down the "activist" courts to prevent gay people who want to form a more perfect union from using the word "marriage" to describe that union.

GAY PEOPLE PREVENTED FROM BEING BORN: 5,000,000-6,300,000


The Republican party in an effort to stop the millions of Latin Americans from crossing the border and picking our food, building the hospitals, cleaning our houses, and paying $1800 more in taxes than they take in services for next to nothing wages decide to build a really really big fence.

LIVES SAVED: 0

PEOPLE IN ARIZONA WHO ARE HAPPY THAT "THOSE PEOPLE" AREN'T WALKING ACROSS THEIR LAWNS ANYMORE ON THEIR WAY TO WORK: 25

Bill Frist and the Republican party push for the Death tax relief in an effort to prevent Paris Hilton from losing millions if her parents were to bite it.

LIVES SAVED: Paris

Bush stands by his plan to fight the War on Terror not in Afghanistan but in Iraq, and that it will one day, history willing, prove he was right to listen to Rumsfeld.

LIVES SAVED: Billions!

LIVES LOST IN IRAQ: "We don't do body counts."

CITIZEN ALERT v1.89RECONSTRUCTION FINISHED?

Kerry has decided to return to Washington after realizing he CAN'T READ A SIMPLE SPEECH without screwing up the entire Democratic campaign!! John, just shutup already!

This however does not effect my ire for the chickenhawks who jumped at the opportunity to scolded an American Veteran on his loyalty to our armed forces. Bush standing behind his podium STILL AWOL from his National Guard duty demanding apologies from Kerry for insulting the American troops. I find lying to the troops and sending them in the wrong directions insulting and treasonous.

In reconstruction news Bechtel one of the wars leading profiteers is packing up and heading home siting poor security as the reason they can't complete the jobs on their $2.3 billion dollar contract or why the jobs they did complete were later blown up.

Here's a great quote from this article:

"That's really an under-told story -- we've stopped the reconstruction," said Frederick Barton, co-director of the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic & International Studies think tank. "There are some things we're still finishing up, but we're wrapping up, and we're stepping back. It's really a tragedy."

Check out the entire article here.