Recent Articles
The Internet age and our Auditor
Next week the Auditor will mail out our ballots to us. Catch that? Next week, we start voting. Yet - our Whatcom County Auditor web page has no information at all about the general election. No dates
Next week the Auditor will mail out our ballots to us. Catch that? Next week, we start voting. Yet - our Whatcom County Auditor web page has no information at all about the general election. No dates
Now - Shirley has staff that is supposed to manage her website for her - and she tries her best to get them to do a good job. She is genuinely concerned and trying to do a good job. But the fact is she is in over her head with our new electronic age. She lacks the expertise to supervise her staff because she depends on them to tell her what is appropriate.
The point? I am posting this to nudge the Auditor's office to again pay attention to their web pages and to bring some expertise to the information posted. The current head of the election division has shown no ability at this and someone else should be put in charge of the web pages. But that won't happen. We will bungle along through yet another election.
Next year we have a chance to elect a new Auditor. I hope Shirley takes her deserved retirement. She has served us to her best ability for many years. But we citizens need to be thinking now about tech savvy persons we can back for Auditor. We need someone of very high integrity, intelligence and with courage to buck the local political groups in seeking to create the independent office we need the Auditor's office to be. And we need to be thinking now. It does not have to be an experienced politician.
To end on an Internet story. For the primary election in Sept 1995, Barry Bowen and I setup a computer connected to the Internet in the lobby of the court house on election night. We keyed in the results each time the printed pages were handed out by the Auditor and they were available at this website. We repeated this for a couple more elections as we tried to promote Internet usage by the Auditor and other government agencies. What was interesting was how much they all thought we were goofy and the Internet was a fad. We could not get any cooperation at all from the Auditor. A year later the Auditor helped another guy to get results before us so he could post before us and we quit the effort. By that time everyone realized the Internet was the coming thing. And later still, the Auditor started posting the results on their website.
Check the Voting Reform links at the top right of this page for more info - and especially Marian Beddill's website No Leaky Buckets.
To comment, please log in.
The Internet age and our Auditor
Next week the Auditor will mail out our ballots to us. Catch that? Next week, we start voting. Yet - our Whatcom County Auditor web page has no information at all about the general election. No dates
Swimming upstream
As Republicans try to prove the Democrats sprung the Foley scandal as an ‘October Surprise’, it is fun to actually learn how it all started. Check out the website for CREW - Citizens for Responsibilit
Applying band-aids to scandal
Right wingnuts - Drudge, Gingrich and others - are saying the Democrats want Republican House leader Hastert to resign so as to enhance Democratic House candidates in the November election. You know,
If the facts don’t fit, then lie (National)
Oh, I’m sorry, that is unfair. If the facts don’t fit then make a mistake. (This post is labeled National so no conservative has to read this far and become upset - as I don’t want to hurt their relia
There will always be guys who go wrong
Now the right wing media theme is Rep. Foley is a homosexual - as if that explains pedophilia. So, would they say a rapist is just a heterosexual person? The Wall Street Journal and other right wingnu
“... naughty e-mails…” (National)
is all they are according to the White House. (Tony Snow on CNN) Yep - from the same folks who say torture is “procedures”. And this explains why the top leadership of the Republican Congress ignored
Republican Congressmen also lie about having sex
So - it seems top Republican Congressmen also lie about having sex with interns - er, pages. I ask you - what is worse - exploiting a person over 21 - legally impossible - or a boy of 16? Seems the to
This bill authorizes torture
The “Terrorist Detainee” bill passed the US House of Representatives by 253 to 168 vote yesterday. Aka the Military Commissions Act of 2006. House Resolution 6166, passed on Roll Call 491 of the secon
Branches vs main library
For the record, the library administration reacted to the post below by shifting the argument from branches to drive times and looking to give us crumbs from the main library bond issue in the form of
Meeting in the middle of a business day
The Bellingham Library Board of Trustees will meet Tue, Sep 19 at 2:30 pm in the basement meeting room of the downtown library - the room across the hall from the Children’s Library. The public
We need branch libraries - not a new main library
This coming Tuesday, our Bellingham Library Board of Trustees may make a decision on where to locate a new, huge, downtown library building. The plan is to ask voters to pass a bond issue of several t
Good God, is our country mad?
Bush wants to continue torturing captives. Why are we even discussing this? The Nazis and Soviet Russia tortured people to get information - not the USA. Now here is Bush demanding the authority to t
Will history repeat?
Anti-War demonstration next Tuesday in New York will probably be big. Bush will be speaking at the UN on that day to further his Iraq war. Demonstrators are being denied permits - and we can expect a
Let the games begin
Tim Douglas - the longest-serving mayor in Bellingham’s history - will now serve another year. This also sets up a perfect scenario for Dan McShane’s run for mayor as there will be no incumbent. Asmun
9/11/01-post review/City Council meeting venue
What NWCitizen posted on Sept 11, 2001 seems to have stood the test of time. The cautions and concerns about democracy and hate were relevant considering the hate mongering and mindless striking out a
Voting recommendations for the Primary Election
Mail your ballot before Tuesday, Sept 19 (or by 5 pm that day if you want to take a chance).
Mary Kay Becker - re-elect her as a judge to the Appeals Court. Her opponent, Teichert, is ba
Who wants to be mayor
and what political gaming is being played to best position a candidate for the big election in the fall of 2007? I will be doing my best to sort this out for you over the next few weeks.
Gen
Some clarification is needed here
Gene Knutson is not knowingly part of any arrangement by Mark to succeed him as mayor. Below in yesterday’s post I suggested just that but today I’ve been convinced that Gene is personally on the up a
A sweet dirty move
Bellingham Mayor Mark Asmundson submitted his resignation today, effective Nov 1. My my. He continues an old corrupt practice of Whatcom County - resigning a year before his last term is up - at elect
Are we being conditioned to hate Iran?
Yes. Is there truth in what we are being told by our corporate media and the Bush administration? No. Want an example of a lie and some truths that you are not being told? Then read Juan Cole’s blog p