Election

You all know how the election worked out. You're either still feeling that gooey relief or simmering anger, either about McCain/Obama or Wulsin/Schmidt or any of the dozens of other races.

I won't bore you with a recap at this late date, since we all know the Franklin County Board of Elections can give you the low-down if you really still need it.

I do want to mention something about my personal voting experience, however. The fact I was forced to vote by provisional ballot this year.

When I moved, I registered to vote well ahead of the deadline (in order to avoid this nonsense, can you believe that?). My lil card came back, and it read the correct address. I thought, "Sweet!" and didn't give this another thought.

Until I showed up to vote, and the rather hostile lady informed me that my APARTMENT number on the rolls differed from the piece of mail I brought in.

***Side note, I used my change of address confirmation from the BMV because my license shows a place I lived two addresses ago. I THOUGHT that would make it simple***

They had apartment 3D listed. I actually live at 2D. A typo when someone was compiling the voter rolls, I'd put a lot of money on it. I was rather pissed off, I'll admit it (although, that may have more to do with having been up since 8pm the previous evening). I mean, I was a guy who did everything the right way and I still felt like my vote didn't count.

Did it? Another confession...I don't know. My candidates all passed with healthy margins, so I didn't feel a duty to double check on the BOE. The poll workers gave me an explanatory sheet with information about provisional voting, reassurances that my vote would be counted (if I was actually a voter), and a hot line I could call to see if they counted my vote.

I skipped it tho. I didn't have the energy to make them figure it out...and I'm a middle class white guy. Can you imagine how easy it would be to keep a poor minority voter from getting their say heard?

That's the problem with this set up...a typo can disenfranchise a person. What the crap?

Issues This Fall (List)

Just as important as the candidates we'll be electing this year are the issues we'll be deciding by ballot. Things like the gay marriage ban--that abortion of human rights--are decided by a ballot issue during a general election.

How does an issue get on the ballet? It's technical, and I'll look into it for another post soon. But there's two main reasons you'll have an issue on the ballot: A) The state legislature decides it doesn't have the authority (or it lacks the political cojones) to decide on an issue and they send it to the voters, or B) the voters decide they want to force the legislature down a particular path, and get their issue on the ballot.

In short, it's our democracy at the base level: By the people, for the people. Forever and ever, amen. So do us all a favor and pay attention to these issues...they DO affect your life.

We have some interesting issues up for decision this year. Here's an overview for my area, and you can see the full list here.

Ohio Issues:

• Issue 1: To provide for earlier filing deadlines for statewide ballot issues. An ammendment to the state Constitution to make people file their paperwork earlier when they want to file a state wide ballot issue. Yes = the Constitution is changed, No = No change.


• Issue 2: To authorize the State to issue bonds to continue the Clean Ohio program for environmental revitalization and conservation. Another Constitutional ammendment that will let the state raise money to continue the Clean Ohio program. Yes = Allow Bonds, No = No Bonds.


• Issue 3: To amend the Constitution to protect rights in ground water, lakes, and other watercourses. I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure what this is all about, exactly...but with how dry other parts of the country are getting, I'm not surprized to see a water issue. Look for a post on this once I read up on it.

Westerville Issues:

• Issue 54: Proposed Municipal Income Tax Ordinance. General Municipal operations and services, street maintenance, capital improvements and related costs. A tax of 3/4 (.75) of 1% of earnings and income subject to the municipal income tax, effective January 1, 2009.


• Issue 55A: Particular location -- Weekday Sales (10am to Midnight). Vino Meza LLC dba MEZA, 48 N State Street Westerville, OH 43081


• Issue 55B: Particular location -- Sunday Sales (1pm to midnight). Same location.


• Issue 56B: Particular location -- Sunday Sales (1pm to midnight). Enken Inc dba Sunbury Rd Duchess 900 S Sunbury Rd Westerville, OH 43081.

There's also a buncha bonds and liquor options for Columbus. City charter changes for various suburbs, like Whitehall's charter has quite a bit of rewriting up for vote. Go check it out...it's kinda neat to see what town is doing what.

This isn't the final list, because I don't see the pay day loan issue on there yet. September 30th is the magic date, according to the BOE. After that date we should have access to full sample ballots.

Right Vs Responsible

I had an epiphany the other day. It wasn't so much a sudden blinding flash of the obvious but the sheet finally falling away from the obvious. Something I wasn't aware of all at once, but something I've been gradually becoming aware of.

It's the simple fact that following the rules doesn't necessarily make one responsible.

A classic real world example of this is calling in "sick" to work. (Note the quotes...I'm all in favor of not working when sick, but simply taking the day off should be a far rarer occurance.) While the rules will probably allow you to not show up, leave early, come late, for many many shifts and get away with it...that doesn't make it ok.

Just because the rules state, "It's ok to be late/absent/leave after an hour with appropriate notice," it doesn't stop your coworkers from getting the shaft. They counted on your coverage they can't replace now. You may be ok in the eyes of the law, so to speak, but you fail at being a responsible person.

On the flip side, sometimes breaking the rules is the responsible option. For instance...you're not supposed to work in another department right now because of the way labor hours are allocated. But they're completely swamped, and the big order isn't going to get out in time without extra help.

The rules in this case would condemn a person from lending a much appreciated hand on a project that ultimately makes money for the company. Following the rules would mean sitting by and watching things go to hell, and last time I checked that's not a responsible action.

How does the apply to news and politics? Well lets think...maybe because the Bush Administration (and multitudes of others in Washington on both sides of the aisle) has alternately taken one or the other approach on their so-called war on terror.

• When the rules clearly wouldn't allow the Administration to do what they wanted with detainees, they set up the prison camp outside jurisdiction of law.


• They tried to rewrite the rules on tribunals in order to make things seem kosher, because if the rules say it's ok then it's ok, right? Ditto on the DOJ memo's authorizing torture.


• The Administration was careful to make sure they followed all the rules to authorize the carnage in Iraq, even though the basis was a net of lies and the aim questionable.

And it goes on and on.

Basically, it takes some good judgement to know when to follow and when to break the rules. It's a sign of growth, of maturity, of wisdom. Time and again, the Bush Administration has failed to make the right call. Now...the nation, and the world, is in one of the worst situations ever for peace and stability.

So now we'll see if the American voter has noticed. We'll see if they've learned. We get to watch in November as they decide the fate of Congressmen and Senators who failed in their duties to oversee the President and provide a check and balance. We get to see if they've learned to cut through the political foam that comes from a candidate's mouth and determine their real character.

We get to find out if we the people will again be represented in Washington. If responsibility will again take precedence over being "right."

Voter Registration Confirmation

Sorry for the late post. The day jobs kinda got in the way.

I was going to post a picture of my voter registration confirmation card, and explain it, and maybe even the voter ID laws (which apparantly still give people fits).

But as I'm trying to photoshop some of the more sensitive info out of the picture, I realize they have my name wrong. They put an "A" where there should have been an "O." Meh.

So now we're gonna look at how to fix this instead. Take it as a lesson about checking your confirmation postcard carefully.

Step one is to check out my local board of elections. In this case, it's Franklin County.

Step two is checking to see if I'm registered under my real name or not. I can check my registration by clicking the link on the left hand sidebar.

*searches for name*...

And the search function is apparantly broken, since it asked me to call the office of the Board of Elections. Nice.

I'm assuming I'll need to have my name changed, so I can actually vote without having to cast a provisional ballot. (What's that? A new post topic? Hrm...). When that happens, I'll simply fill out another voter registration form and mail it in.

Of course, I should prolly call the BOE just to be sure.

...And Now for Some News...

McCain and Obama Win Again, from NPR

Family Brings Soldier's Dogs Home, from NPR

Bhutto Widower Rejects Idea of Being Prime Minister, from BBC

Israeli MP Blames Gays for Earthquakes, from BBC

Congressman

Ok, so I suck w/ this schedule thing. I blame starting a new job and throwing my weekend outta whack...so now here we are.

Again, I moved recently. So now I'm not represented by the Schmidt woman, who couldn't be farther from my values if she tried. Let's go see who now claims me as a constituent.

Looks like Dave Hobson. District 7 really is Central Ohio, ranging from Lancaster to Dayton. I'm kinda impressed, and thus not at all surprized at the fact it's a GOP district.

It's all small town farm country, or nice suburbs. With a few token urban regions (like my crime-infested economically depressed neighborhood) for show. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the GOP has had an uninterrupted majority in the state legislature for years?


The guy's page is quite robust actually...go check it out. Doesn't seem bad at all. And he won 61% of the vote in 2006...not too bad, considering the nation's mood at that point.

We'll look into him more at length...so...yep. That's all I got for now. Enjoy your Legislation Wednesday!

...and Now for Some News...

Obama, McCain Winners in "Potomac Primary," from NPR

Roger Clemens Denies Steroid Use, from NPR (Whatever. Sold out Red Sox, used steroids...)

Top Hezbollah Leader Killed by Bomb, from BBC

Spielberg Steps Down from Olympic Committee, from BBC

Columbus Council Approves Budget, from WCBE (you'll have to listen to the story for details)

Hamilton County Adminstrator Gets Passing Grade, from WVXU

Who's in the State House?

Since I now life only about 15 minutes from the State House, I think it's time to look at who represents me now.

My State Senator is Ray Miller, the Minority Leader. Looks pretty solid...BS in Political Science, MA Public Administration. President and CEO of Professional Employment Services of America. I'll look into sponsored bills...later.

My State Representative is Tracy Heard. First term in office, went to the University of Akron...in good company, from all I've heard. Again, I'll check out some of these 48 bills later.

I just have to update some links.

...and Now for Some News...

Clinton and Obama Still Locked in Struggle, from NPR

McCain is Far Ahead the GOP Leader (but Romney and Huckabee Won't Quit), from NPR

Italian Parliament Dissolved to Set Stage for Snap Elections, from BBC

CIA Chief Admits to Waterboarding, from BBC

OSU Tickets to Cost More Next Season, from WCBE

Foster Care Bill Hits Governor's Desk, from WVXU

Columbus Government

Since I've moved, it's time to get acquainted with a new set of government officials. Let's start with the Mayor of Columbus and the City Council.

The city's website is pretty simple: http://www.columbus.gov/. I love it when it's that simple. The main page here has all kinds of links that are just pretty spiffy. The central features have some interesting news bites...hrm. Have to look into that.

The Mayor's Page has a lot of the same information as the main city page, but also has contact info for the Mayor.

The City Council has a main page, that branches off into all sorts of information about the council and it's individual members.

City Attorney has his own page.

As does the City Auditor.

Clerk of Courts has her own webspace.

And a list of Judges.



I think that covers it all. Now to update my sidebar links...



...and Now for Some News....

McCain, Clinton Win in Florida, from NPR

Army Balks at VA Help for Soldiers, from NPR

Afghan MPs Back Death for Blasphemy, from BBC

EU Leaders Call for Transparency, from BBC

Organizations Worried Over State Budget Troubles, from WVXU

Your Ohio Primary

ok...so I've moved to a whole different end of the state. That's kinda disturbing on some levels...but not, on others. But I'm still in Ohio, so thankfully many of my links are still valid. Changing them is the next big project I have.

But today, I wanna look into the primary. When it is, who can vote, etc etc. Let's go consult Google.

By a round-a-bout way, I found this handy dandy schedule. This guy has some pretty nifty graphics, so it's a bit better than my postage. Not a bad site on the whole...go check it out!

This tells us that Ohio has a joint primary (both Democratic and Republican parties hold primary elections the same day) on March 4th. This is after super-Tuesday, so it makes our primary even more irrelevant than most...kinda sad.

I believe the best way to investiage the how-tos of a primary is through the Ohio offices of the parties...so lets go back to Google.

The Ohio Democratic Website really kinda sucks. A lot. They don't even have the March 4 primary listed on their events calendar. In fact, they barely mention the primary at all. They do have a pretty robust information base in general terms, however.

The Ohio Republican Website is flashier, and better and getting their message out, but has even less real info. The national GOP website doesn't look so barren of info, and I was referred to it a few times...but I was looking for information on the Ohio primary. Didn't find it, and the GOP didn't list the primary with their events either.

I'm kinda disappointed in both these groups. Remind me why I'm registered Independent?

Maybe the Ohio Board of Elections? Long story short, not really.

ok, I had to walk away from the computer after 2 hours on this. I believe I saw a lil blurb back on the Ohio Democratic Party's site on their FAQs about registering with a party...their answer was no, but if you vote in a primary that will set your party affiliation. So it resets your registration? Apparantly. I couldn't find anything to clarify it, and I'm just about done.

Now for Some News...

Gaza Barrier Breached, from NPR

Slide May Not Presage Severe Recession, from NPR

Goths with Dog Leash Forced off Bus, from BBC

Iraqi Parliament Approves New Flag, from BBC (this actually does serve practical purpose)

Find Your Elected Folks, Part 4!

Here we're gonna go after the county people. They're a little harder to come by...I had to resort to a Google search for "Hamilton County Ohio" before I found the webpage.



From there, it took a bit of digging. I ended up going to the top right corner and clicking "Departments." That gave me a list of all the departments in Hamilton County. Since I'm concerned with finding out who my county commissioners are, I clicked the "Commissioners" link.



From there, you get the contact info and links to their home pages.



Back track to the Hamilton County page again, and you'll see a box on the right hand side that asks you to input your address called the Local Government Connection, to find your local municipal government. That's pretty cool, let's try it.



Oh yes, it's pretty cool. It would figure something like this would happen on the last day of the "Find the Elected Officials" week. Go take a look and see what I'm talking about!

Now For Some News...

Clinton Improves Debate Performance, from NPR
Barry Bonds Indicted for Perjury, from NPR
Dinosaur "Cow" Found in Sahara, from NPR
Hundreds Dead in Cyclone, from BBC
Victim Given 200 Lashes in Saudi Rape Case, from BBC
Russian Election Will Not be Overseen by International Watchdog, from BBC
Joe Nuxhall Dies at Age 79, from WVXU
Hill Climb Race to Determine Cincinnati Masochist, from WVXU
Contractors to Register in Cincinnati (as if taxes and red tape weren't enough there), from WVXU

Find Your Elected Folks, Part 3!

So...thus far, we've found the President, my Congresswoman, my Senators, and the Governor of Ohio. What's next, you ask? Isn't that all?



Excuse me while I laugh. Because we're just getting started.



After this week tho, I plan on shaking it up a bit, don't worry. But for this fine Thursday morning, more elected reps!



Let's look at my State Senator. Or Senators? How does that work, exactly? I dunno...but I know where to start.

1. Go to the Ohio homepage.


2. On the right hand side of the page, you should see a blue box with the Governor's photo on it. Above him, there are some tabs...one of them says "Legislative." Click it.


3. We've got some options. We've got 5 links, one each for the Senate, the House, and the General Assembly, plus one each for Find Your Senator and Find Your Representative. (I'm glad we did this, 'cause I had no idea these legislative webpages were here).


4. I'm going to search for my Senator. Punch in my Zip Code, and I get the scoop on Robert Schuler (this is a neat service!)


5. Just for kicks, let's do my Representative too. Again w/ my Zip, I meet Michelle Schneider.

Go try it...it's fun!

Now for Some News...

• House Approves Spending Bill Tied to Troop Withdrawal (Too bad the Senate will never go for it), from NPR
• Mitt Romney Has Trouble Ahead Because of Mormon Faith, from NPR
• Airport Security Not Very Secure, from NPR
• Bishops Issue Voting Guidelines, from NPR
• Good News, Bad News About Iran, from BBC
• Musharraf Names Interim Prime Minister, from BBC

How to Contact the Governor

Just a quickie today...but I thought we should touch on what might be an obvious character, the state Governor.



http://www.governor.ohio.gov/ is the webpage for Ted Strickland. Once you're there, you can check out all kinds of nifty stuff, not unlike the White House website. In order to contact Governor Strickland, click on the "Constituent Affairs" link towards the bottom of the page. This will get you a web contact form, which even lets you flag your message as needing a reply.



If you're looking for a phone number or mailing address, go to the sidebar on the left-hand side. Find the link that says Contact Us. There you are!



Now for Some News...

I think Wednesday's I'll try and focus on environment/sustainability news. Which makes most of Marketplace's show yesterday (this whole week, really) pretty applicable.

Effects of a Consumer Culture on Bhutan
A small Indiana Town Shoots for Energy Independance
Discussion: Public Solutions or Private Enterprise?

All three of the above from Marketplace, an American Public Media operation.

Headlines...

FBI Finds Blackwater Shootings Unjustified, from NPR
Congress to Vote on Another Iraq Spending Bill with Troop Drawdown Attached, from NPR

French Strike Brings Travel Chaos, from BBC
Another Pakistani Opposition Leader Arrested, from BBC

Reds Lose Chief Operating Officer and Executive VP, from WVXU
Ohio Prison Population Hits 50,000, from WCPO. (I heard on the radio version on WVXU they blame the short term, 1 year or less drug convictions for most of the over crowding. Also, the prisons are projected to be at 52000 by this time next year).

Tune in next time, when we'll take a look at the Ohio State Legislature!

Get to Know Your Elected Folks 2

So now we've found US Senators...US Representatives...and now comes time for the other elected branch of the Federal Government, the President.



*Editorial Note* While the evidence IS to the countrary, remember the President does work for YOU. This means it's just as acceptable to drop the Executive a line telling them how you think the country should be run. Whether or not the President understands what it means to serve the constituency is a topic for someone else to debate. *End Note*

1. Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/


2. Scroll all the way to the bottom. You'll see a set of links such as "President," "Vice President," etc. Among them is a link "Contact." Click that.


3. You'll get the mailing address, comment e-mails, phone numbers, and some other stuff like the Vice President's e-mail.

My goal is to limit how much my personal politics color this blog...but it's safe to say we won't be revisiting the White House webpage while this Administration is in office. Why, might you ask? I don't trust them. Plain and simple. Feel free to poke around on your own, but my time is more valuable than all of that.

Now Some News...

Inquiry Into San Fransisco Oil Spill, from NPR

Lawmakers and the Nation Try to Cope with High Oil Costs, from NPR

Bhutto Under House Arrest, Now Calls on Musharraf to Quit, from BBC

Bird Flu in England, from BBC

Tractor Trailer Closes 71s to 471 Ramp, from WCPO.

Get to Know Your Elected Folks!

Or mine, anyway.


And a side note for anyone who may have been looking for post action this weekend...I don't do that. I've spent just about all my working life to date working weekends, and...I don't anymore. Sorry.

So this week, we're gonna track down and add to the sidebar my elected officials. Because...I'm curious, for one. And it'll make it easier to find and decide on news. Since we've already found the United States Senators from Ohio, now we'll find my Congressman.

1. Go to http://www.house.gov/. That's the House of Representatives home page. It's got cool stuf, which we'll check out later.


2. This one is so easy. Look at the upper left hand corner...there's a place that advises you to find your rep by punching in your zip code.


3. In my case, this brings me to a page where Jean Schmidt (did not get my vote in '06) is shown, as well as the Ohio 2nd District. Jean's name is linked...let's click it!


4. Now we see her official webpage, with all kindsa neat goodies on it. Including possibly the most important, her contact info. This is important because we'll be discussing how to inform your elected reps when their views are either (a) appropriately reflecting your own or (b) decidedly offensive.

So to my neat lil side bar of knowledge, I'll add a neat lil section for Jean Schmidt.

Tune in tomorrow, when we tackle possibly the most obvious of all, the White House!

Now Some News...

• Bhutto Vows to Defy Protest Ban, from NPR.
• Iraq Vet Can't Find Work, from NPR.
• Hamas Kills 5 at Arafat Rally, from BBC.
• Cincinnati Library Celebrates Childrens Book Week, from WVXU.

How to Find Your Senators

I know I mentioned something about reading ballots, but that'd require finding case studies, analysis, etc...and I don't have time for that. I've only got a few minutes this morning, so...here's how to find your United States Senators.

Unlike Congressmen or state legislatures, BOTH Senators from your state are YOUR senators. So when you've got something to say about how the Senate behaves (more on that later), this is how you get in touch and yell at both of them.

First, go to the Senate webpage. There's a lotta cool stuff I plan on posting about on this homepage, but for now just find the "Senators" tab in red at the top of the page. The list is naturally in alphabetical order with all 100 of them, but you can use the drop down menues to filter as you like, by "state" for instance. If I do that and choose "Ohio," I see both of my Senators (Brown and Voinovich) listed, with address, phone numbers, and a link to a webmail submission form.

That's it! It works for any state, obviously, so if you don't happen to live in Ohio...go make the necessary changes in those steps and have fun!

***

Edit: I feel like a bit of a moron...but if you go to the Senate home page, and look at the top right hand corner you'll see a drop down menu that will let you search by state and skip a bunch of what I previously told you to do. Don't say I've never stood corrected!

How to Become a Registered Voter

So yesterday was all about moving Sarah, NOT telling you how to register to vote. My bad. Count this as Wednesday's issue, and I'll talk about the election for today.

It also gave me time to think...with fifty states, and dozens of counties per state, it'd be kinda asinine of me to issue a guide to all of them. More importantly, it's not really within my realm of influence or personal concern if everyone in Idaho is registered. SO I've decided the focus needs to be toned down to my county in all things political, starting with how to register to vote.

This blog is such a work in progress...so bear with me and feel free to offer suggestions.

How to Become a Registered Voter:

• http://www.ohio.gov has a link right on the homepage, which sends you to the Secretary of State website. There you can download the registration form, find all the eligibility questions you could ever have, and get a list of places you can register to vote.
• Contact the Hamilton County Board of Elections. They also have some interesting information, such as your local ballot and results.

If you're out for a walk and the urge to register your disenfranchised self to vote, drop in at any of the following locations (taken from the Ohio Secretary of State website):

• Public libraries.
• Public high schools or vocational schools.
• The office of any deputy registrar of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (where you get your license and registration).

When I came back to Ohio from Colorado, I registered to vote by just walking into the library down the street, filling out the form with my name, address, driver's license # or last 4 of my SSN, then signed it. I gave it back to the librarian, and a week or so later I got a confirmation postcard telling me my polling station.

ALSO on that postcard was a simple change of address form. When I moved from Cincinnati to Marriemont this summer, I wrote my new address on the form and dropped it in the mail. My voter registration was changed even before I'd given back the keys to my apartment. Hang onto that card, it'll simplify your life when move time comes.

That's all folks.