The Verified Voting Foundation, in their weekly newsletter, reports that over 85% of the voters in Pennsylvania won’t be able to register their votes in a verifiable form. Paperless, electronic voting has become the norm in Pennsylvania despite a state law that requires manually recounting a sample of ballots cast in elections. 32% of registered voters in the state will have the opportunity to vote only on ES&S iVotronic touch screen machines. According to the report these machines have been described as “too risky to use in elections.” A report issued by the State of Ohio says of them: “Anyone with access to a machine can re-calibrate the touchscreen to affect how the machine records votes.” Another 31% will use Shouptronic push button machines and 10% more have access only to Diebold/Premier TSx touch screen equipment. Relatively few--1.2 million out of the total 8.3 million registered voters--will have access to optically scanned paper ballots.

The Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market will be holding a planning meeting Saturday, December 8 beginning 11:00 AM at the Mary Siah Rec Center meeting room, 1025 - 14th Avenue, Fairbanks.

The Co-op invites the you to help plan events under consideration for 2008. One event being looked at is a community-wide meeting at a location such as Pioneer Park to encourage families and Fairbank's many diverse groups to become Co-op members and raise money for a co-op feasibility study.

The Co-op has a lot of work to do to become a strong and vital component of the community and needs a high level of individual involvement.

For further information contact Dave Lacy: dlacey@mosquitonet.com

An effort is afoot in Fairbanks to start a natural food cooperative. Since the closing of Whole Earth Grocery and Deli almost a decade ago, Fairbanks has been without a place to buy organic foods which has local ownership and a firm commitment to the local community. A group known as The Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market has been formed to address this issue.

Drawing inspiration from the Cooperative Grower’s Information Network and other sources the Co-op seeks to develop a membership owned business.

The mission statement of the Co-op notes that the organization “works for health and sustainability by providing natural foods and products, promoting local suppliers, and offering consumer education in an open community center environment.”

For more information visit the Co-op’s web site www.fairbankscoop.org or contact Dave Lacey at: dlacey@mosquitonet.com

Several hundred people came to the Borough Assembly chambers to voice nearly universal opposition to Assemblyman Charlie Rex's proposal to ban "dumpster diving" at the transfer stations.

The main reason that people gave for their opposition to the proposal was that "dumpster diving" constitutes one of the few recycling efforts that this borough makes. Other reasons for opposition focused on civil liberties, class bias, and the awesome stuff you can find in a dumpster.

The National Review isn't really concerned with Young's questionable ethics per se. It's concerned that Young's questionable ethics will cause him to lose the next election...thus speeding along the Republican free fall. Still, it brings up some troubling news for the Young campaign. One, in the 3rd quarter, Young spent more money on his legal defense than he raised. Two, he's trailing Democratic candidate Ethan Berkowitz in the polls.

Read more...

Potential Jurors Speak Out Against the War

Rob Mulford is on trial for criminal trespass: civil disobedience in Senator Stevens’ office to coerce the nation’s longest-serving Republican lawmaker to stop funding the U.S. war in Iraq.

In response to a motion by the prosecution, Rob stated, “I went to the Federal Building to stop a crime...in deference to all the victims, including the soldiers...I can do no less...I am here to represent those victims....If I don’t, I am complicit...”

During jury selection, the prosecuting attorneys encouraged potential jurors to speak up about their beliefs about the Iraq war, about protest, about civil disobedience.

One hair dresser who fixes hair for military families spoke out against the war as well as a dentist who readies troops for deployment to Iraq. Most of those who spoke out in a negative way about the Iraq war were expunged from jury duty. Democracy in action? Kangaroo court?

All potential jurors were challenged to think deeply about their attitude toward civil responsibility when U.S. leaders break the law.

To witness this crucial struggle Rob Mulford wages for peace in Iraq, citizens are welcome to attend the trial in Rabinowitz Courthouse room 201, 9:30 am, Judge Funk presiding and/or see here.

In order to spare Alaska from the "wretched agenda of the far left," Sen. Mike Kelly has called for the retirement of Sen. Stevens and Rep. Young and the resignation of Senate Rules Chair John Cowdery and Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich.

Kelly made his comments in a News-Miner letter to the editor. Read it here.

My name is Serita M. Wesley; I am a casting producer with the ABC Television Reality Series “Wife Swap.” For so long there had been restrictions placed on us, from our network, when it came to casting families in Alaska, mainly for budgeting reasons. Alas, ABC has granted us permission to cast in Alaska for season 4.

I am very excited and currently looking for Iditarod participants and sled dog kennel owners to participate in our special Alaska swap episode.

Interested? Read on...

Hector Douglas from the Kuskokwim Campus has has found that, for crested auklets, chemistry has both amorous and practical applications. The birds rub a citrus-like scent, secreted in wick-like feathers on their backs, on each other during courtship, a behavior called alloanointing. It is well known among some mammals, such as peccaries, but until now was not documented among birds. His research also indicates that the behavior could help protect the birds from parasites, such as ticks.

Read on...

According to Roll Call (via TPMmuckraker): Undeterred in the face of a federal corruption probe, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is hosting a small klatch of top lobbyists and others this weekend for a fishing and fundraising trip to his home state.

The getaway, billed as the “Ted Stevens El Capitan Fishing Event,” combines “three days of some of the best salt water fishing you will ever have,” according to the invite, with a fundraising reception expected to net at least $2,300 per person for the Senator’s re-election campaign.

In an attempt to explain the FBI probe to former U.S. Attorney Wev Shea, Stevens states that he and his wife personally paid over $130,000 in renovations to his Girdwood home.

The only problem is that $130,000 wouldn't begin to cover the cost of the home improvements.

From the ADN: If $130,000 is an accurate total, it would raise questions about how such a major renovation could have been accomplished within such a tight budget. The carpentry contractor alone said he was paid more than $100,000 by Stevens. Another contractor, who raised up the house to make room for the new first floor and built part of the foundation, said he too was paid by Stevens, though he didn't recall the amount. The earth-moving contractor who prepared the ground for the job also said he was paid by Stevens.

That would leave little if any left over for a range of other work that was done, everything from design to plumbing and electric to a new roof. As recently as this week, Stevens declined to answer questions about how the project was billed and financed.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Friday signed into law the controversial Interception of Communications Bill, which gives his government the authority to eavesdrop on phone and Internet communications and read physical mail. ... Human rights lawyer Otto Saki told VOA that the law interferes and undermines the enjoyment of rights enshrined in the constitution and is a sign Mr. Mugabe wants to consolidate his power by “any means necessary or unnecessary.”

But Communications Minister Christopher Mushowe said Zimbabwe is not unique in the world in passing such legislation, citing electronic eavesdropping programs in the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa, among other countries.

Read on...

Ben Stevens is back in private life and faces legal expenses. To make money, he has returned to the sea to work. As of last week, he was on a vessel.

Read the commentary here.

Don Young has apologized for threatening to bite and kill his fellow Republican, Representative Scott Garrett of New Jersey.

Young's threat came after Garrett stated his opposition to an appropriation for Native Alaskans.

Young, who compared himself to a cannibalistic mink, said that he was "a weakened man whose weaknesses are greater than [his] strengths at times".

Sources say that House Minority Leader John Boehner "told Young he had to apologize to Garrett."

This past week, the Bush administration added insult to injury over its illegal program of NSA domestic surveillance. During the very time Congress was debating codifying President Bush's lawbreaking by revising the FISA law many of his allies had been afraid to publicly challenge as unconstitutional, Alberto Gonzales' DOJ was raiding the home of a former Justice official to identify the person who first brought the illicit program to light.

Read on...