OK some of the candidates have signs - big deal!

Ok we now see some signs from some of the candidates, I just hope they are pounding the pavement because they appear to have done little else. Where are the press releases, where are the position papers just what do they think? I see that the Northumberland News has a list of candidates here and the Cobourg Daily Star has one here. I am working on a page that will reflect how I think based on what I see so if the candidates want to get ink from me they had better do something to get noticed. A final point it seems that the hardest working campaigners so far are the incumbents, maybe that will change this week when Dean McCaughey runs out of friends lawns and Peter Delanty has run through the local Liberal Party's sign list.

On a completely different vein I see that there will be a "domino run" of cereal boxes to draw attention to the fact some people can't afford to buy food. I don't get it why, is so much energy put into being "Lady Bountifuls" and not enough effort being put into forcing the governments to pay poor people more. Ending the child tax credit clawback and raising the minimum wage would be much more helpful than stacking boxes of cereal.

The list is closed now where the hell are the candidates?

The list closed last Friday and what have we got in the way of coverage or presence? Some green Delanty signs and a few white and red Sherwin signs and very few gothic black signs for Brocanier. I just hope that the candidates are banging on doors other than mine and having their printed leaflets distributed. There is a campaign going on here and I want to see something!!

Now that the deadline to register to run for Council is past, when will you give us a synopsis of all the Cobourg candidates' strengths and weaknesses? And while you're at it, maybe you could set up a poll or something on line and come up with predictions on who the winners will be? You've got lots of time, right?

This was a comment on the last post, Oh yeah I have lots of time that's why you haven't had any comments lately. I have been fighting the good fight with the floor sanders and have had to be out of the house for three days last week, couple that with work and I'll soon find plenty of time to write (sarcasm folks!)

But I will have a synopsis of the candidates and some comments about them in due course. Just a little tale: the day after the Cobourg paper wore out the presses by printing all the candidates in colour (I bet Darren Murphy had a s***fit about the extra costs) the love of my life said to me "What are these Xs and Os on this paper?" They were my picks. "Why are some more crossed out than others?" the answer to that was easy and can never be replicated in a ballot - "The more scratches on a face means just how badly you want them to lose."

Not all the politics is above ground

As all good pundits know the slimiest and most cunning politics take place out of the view of observers of the mainstream. The hardest part of being elected to a Provincial or Federal seat is the business of obtaining the nomination. This riding is no different. The Libs have had their wars, lucky for them they could pay off the losers with patronage appointments, and the Cons have had their troubles aired in the last Federal nomination process - remember John Floyd complaining about the very same tactics as those currently used. The disputes usually centre around delegate selection, membership lists and the timing of the nomination day. One trick (read strategy -ed.) played by those who control the party is to hold on to the membership lists for as long as possible and then schedule a nomination process shortly after the release of the list. This means that the candidate favoured by the Brass has an advantage over the other poor sods struggling to go through the list for recruits.

The game played by the Cons (an apt abbreviation) this time around in the Provincial arena was to schedule a nomination day for the 7th of November 2006. This has the newest member of the party, and one seeking the nomination incensed. In a letter written to his supporters, David St. Charles cites this action as "a little too conicidental and convenient". Why? because that date is the date he is going to be out of the country. He also says that appearances lead him to believe that other candidates have had advance warning of the date, and if he had the same the conflict may not have arisen. But it has and now he has withdrawn from the race.

For those who have not read the press releases David St Charles is a Cobourg lad who has "done good" in the real world and now wants to "give back". Currently employed at the University of Innovation and Technology in Oshawa he pledged to bring a campus down here as well as use his connections to bring jobs. He attracted a group of supporters, in the classical way, by talking to people. Interestingly enough some of the people he brought on side were disgruntled Libs who had been tossed overboard when Lou Rinaldi obtained the Lib nomination. I could never figure out if it was the St Charles charm and vigour that captivated Carolyn Campbell, the former Lib standard bearer and the "wunderkind" (in his own mind) of the local Lib fartcatchers - Ryan O'Grady, or was it a chance to show Lou the way out. Anyway they and hundreds of others will now have to find another to support. Most acknowledge that the current crop of aspirants won't do it for them.

Other news,

• another entrant into the Cobourg Council race and in Port Hope all kinds of people jumping in. One is a person I thought should have jumped in years ago. Wilf Day has now decided he wants to be on Council - good for him.
• Cobourg has an interesting dispute in the East End. Ever since the area was fitted with sanitary sewers people with large lots have been severing off their sideyards, getting variances and infilling quite nicely thank you. Now one property owner has decide to infill, planned three lots on one piece of land and while the Town admits the severences meet all the legal and planning conditions local opposition has created a visit to the OMB. What a NIMBY mess!
  

What a wonderful week!

This week the race for council spots in Cobourg sped up and now we have a real race for Mayor complete with the tossing of barbs.

Firstly Lloyd Williams did what he is famous for - being cautious with a dash of daring. He came out swinging against the Mayor and swiped the putative Deputy Mayor in the process and then spoiled the whole occasion by giving his concession speech eight weeks early. Secondly the incumbent, Mr Delanty riposted with the (I paraphrase) Mr Williams is full of it and I am the true leader! This race will be characterised by the issuing of much paper and claims of just about anything. This time the only piece of advice I would give to Lloyd is not to accept Mr Delanty's statements at face value, they can be ambiguous and perhaps lacking in veracity. That is what lost Joan Chalovich the race in 2000. Mr Delanty's bold statements, although damaging to Mrs Chalovich, were never answered by Mrs Chalovich, because she did not want to degenerate to the level of "he said, she said!" Who can forget the assertion from Mr Delanty "That not one job had come to town during Mrs Chalovich's term of office!"

Mr Williams's run for the top job has come about as a result of being pipped at the post for Deputy Mayor by Manfred Schuman. One last time will either give him the crown or plaudits for a valiant effort. At least when he wins he will destroy the process of local governance as we know it today and give back to the Town a system of committees which will restore local democracy to an efficient and responsive level. We have had too much of both efficiency and the bone idleness of far too many councillors for the past 20 years and it has not worked.

Let's have a bit of fun - vote for the Mayor now and often. Click on the polling box on the left of this box.

The heavyweight has arrived in the race

Enter an incumbent of a great size and not much of a record. 15 years on Council and can anyone name something that is identified as Bill MacDonald's legislation?

Wanting another four years for, as he puts it, "I've done a nice job" and what is that Bill?

He has put forth some ideas about what he'd like to see done in the next four years in his press statement. One of those ideas is to entice more doctors to the area. Very ironic considering that his wife is a doctor and rumour has it that she wants to retire! Maybe she wants to live the same idle life that he has lived for the past twenty years. But now the kids have gone Mr Mom will have to find something else to do to supplement his nice gig down at Town Hall.

Where did August go?

I could have sworn that there were a couple of posts in August. But anyway if there were they have disappeared into the ether.
So now it's September and the day before Labour Day and the local candidates have announced or will announce shortly the list is as follows

• Mayor: Peter Delanty and Steven McCahon
  
• Deputy Mayor: Gil Brocanier and Manfred Schuman
• Council: Miriam Mutton, Larry Sherwin, Wayne DeVeau, A woman whose name I have forgotten, Stan Frost, Dean MacCaughey

If one uses past practise then it can be predicted that there will be at least five more names added to the list by nomination day.
My prediction is twofold, one is that nothing will change all the tired old hacks that make up the laziest and most cozy council Cobourg has ever seen will return as there will only be one vacancy, or the voters who are very quiet this year will turf the lot leaving the Mayor with a new challenge - how to blend a new bunch of people into his second compliant team of lackeys.

A brief note to show that I'm still alive

Area C:
This is the plot of land in the east end of Town that has been earmarked for huge development - 16,000 people in 20 years. Well a developer has emerged and said he wants to build 1600 houses over the next few years and wants his plans expedited by the election in November. Councillor McCaughey says he won't stand in their way! So how in hell are we going to fix the problems of such planning in 13 weeks? First off this development is in the middle of the land; who is going pay for the roads to get to this plot? Who is going to build the sewage treatment plant needed for the first 200 houses? Who is going to approve this plan when it will set the standard for the whole 1600 acres, by virtue of being the first to build? and are these questions going to be answered in 12 weeks?

Policing:
Now that Port Hope has told the County to get stuffed and will also provide the costs necessary to do a proper policing study perhaps the local paper can wake up and figure out that the reason why small urban towns have higher policing costs is because the rural areas are still freeloading. They get police grants and we don't. Compare apples to apples and it will be seen that rural police costs are rising faster than urban policing areas. Just look at the cost difference in Port Hope - Ward 1 versus Ward 2. Tell Dalton M to treat the urban areas fairly and perhaps Cobourg and Port Hope would be happy to participate in a County wide policing study.

Tax Increases:
If anyone in Cobourg wants to figure out why their taxes have been escalating perhaps they should look at the County levy. Now the empire builders, and Rome has nothing on these guys!, want to build a bigger building and pay for it with court rental fees from the old building.

Random Thoughts

The World Cup: Pity Rooney stomped on Rinaldo's private parts, the game might have gone another way. But when will the bloody English learn to kick a penalty?

The Municipal Election: I picked up nomination papers yesterday and am looking for helpers and money, want to help in any way email me at ben@eagle.ca I will be seeking to be the Budget Chief and will go up against Gil Brocanier.

The MidEast crisis: Terrible what can I say?

Stealing the mexican election, are we all just conspiracy theorists?

STEALING MEXICO: Bush Team Helps Ruling Party "Floridize" Mexican Presidential Election

By Greg Palast

Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestseller, " ARMED MADHOUSE: Who's Afraid of Osama Wolf?, China Floats Bush Sinks, the Scheme to Steal '08, No Child's Behind Left and other Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Class War."

Friday, June 30, 2006 -- GEORGE Bush's operatives have plans to jigger with the upcoming elections. I'm not talking about the November '06 vote in the USA (though they have plans for that, too). I'm talking about the election this Sunday in Mexico for their Presidency.

It begins with an FBI document marked, "Counterterrorism" and "Foreign Intelligence Collection" and "Secret." Date: "9/17/2001," six days after the attack on the World Trade towers. It's nice to know the feds got right on the ball, if a little late.

What does this have to do with jiggering Mexico's election? Hold that thought.

This document is what's called a "guidance" memo for using a private contractor to provide databases on dangerous foreigners. Good idea. We know the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the Persian Gulf Emirates. So you'd think the "Intelligence Collection" would be aimed at getting info on the guys in the Gulf.

No so. When we received the document, we obtained as well its classified appendix. The target nations for "foreign counterterrorism investigation" were nowhere near the Persian Gulf. Every one was in Latin America -- Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico and a handful of others. See one of the documents yourself.

Latin America?! Was there a terror cell about to cross into San Diego with exploding enchiladas?

All the target nations had one thing in common besides a lack of terrorists: each had a left-leaning presidential candidate or a left-leaning president in office. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, bete noir of the Bush Administration, was facing a recall vote. In Mexico, the anti-Bush Mayor of Mexico City, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was (and is) leading the race for the Presidency.

Most provocative is the contractor to whom this no-bid contract was handed: ChoicePoint Inc. of Alpharetta, Georgia. ChoicePoint is the database company that created a list for Governor Jeb Bush of Florida of voters to scrub from voter rolls before the 2000 election. ChoicePoint's list (94,000 names in all) contained few felons. Most of those on the list were guilty of no crime except Voting While Black. The disenfranchisement of these voters cost Al Gore the presidency.

Having chosen our President for us, our President's men chose ChoicePoint for this sweet War on Terror database gathering. The use of the Venezuela's and Mexico's voter registry files to fight terror is not visible -- but the use of the lists to manipulate elections is as obvious as the make-up on Katherine Harris' cheeks.

In Venezuela, leading up to the August 2004 vote on whether to re-call President Chavez, I saw his opposition pouring over the voter rolls in laptops, claiming the right to challenge voters as Jeb's crew did to voters in Florida. It turns out this operation was partly funded by the International Republican Institute of Washington, an arm of the GOP. Where did they get the voter info?

In that case, access to Venezuela's voter rolls didn't help the Republican-assisted drive against Chavez, who won by a crushing plurality.

In Mexico this Sunday, we can expect to see the same: challenges of Obrador voters in a race, the polls say, is too close to call. Not that Mexico's rulers need lessons from the Bush Administration on how to mess with elections.

In 1988, the candidate for Obrador's Party of the Democratic Revolution (PDR), who opinion polls showed as a certain winner, somehow came up short against the incumbent party of the ruling elite. Some of the electoral tricks were far from subtle. In the state of Guerrero, the PDR was leading on official tally sheets by 359,369. Oddly, the official final count was 309,202 for the ruling party, only182,874 for the PDR. Challenging the vote would have been dangerous. Two top officials of Obrador's party were assassinated during the campaign.

Crucial to the surprise victory of the ruling party was the introduction of computer voting machines and the centralization of voter databases. Observer Andrew Reding of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs reported that ruling party operatives had special access codes denied the opposition.

Whether the US "War on Terror" lists will find a use in Sunday's election, we cannot know. But the use of American government resources to interfere in south-of-the-border campaigns is an open secret. The GOP's International Republican Institute has run training sessions for the PAN youth wing, funded by US taxpayers through the "National Endowment for Democracy."

Foreign -- that is, American -- interference in political campaigns is a crime. That didn't stop Team Bush. However, when the theft of its citizen files was discovered, Argentina threatened to arrest ChoicePoint contractors until the company returned the tapes -- and Mexico's attorney general did in fact arrest the ChoicePoint data thieves to avoid his party's looking too much the stooge of its Washington patron. Whether George Bush gave back his copy, no one will say.

Wholesale theft is expected on Sunday in forms both subtle and brutal. How the US' purloined "counterterrorism" lists will be used, we don't know. We are certain however, that the Administration did not siphon off these Latin voter files to fight a War on Terror. It appears, rather, part of the Bush Administration's and GOP's hemispheric War on Democracy -- along a battle line which runs from Florida to Ohio to Juarez.

Many e-voting systems flawed: Report

I hope Rick Stinson reads this, some of us still do not trust e-voting! Many e-voting systems flawed.
Another comment on e-voting problems here