Marc Perkel Rantz

Church of Reality opens Religion Discussion Forum

I have started a religion discussion forum for the Church of Reality. If you want to debate religion or learn how to spread the world about Reality then Click Here. And remember - Darwin loves you!

GOP wants Star Tribune to suspend poll

Are the Republicans manipulating polls? Do they believe that polling numbers influence the public? Is this why we see Bush ahead in the polls?

MINNEAPOLIS - The Star Tribune has declined to suspend its Minnesota Poll at the request of State Republican Party Chairman Ron Eibensteiner, who said the poll is "fatally flawed."

On Friday, Eibensteiner called on the newspaper to suspend the poll until after the Nov. 2 election.

Last week, Eibensteiner called for the Star Tribune to fire its pollster for what he said was years of overrepresenting Democrats and underrepresenting Republicans in the poll. Days later, a new Minnesota Poll of likely voters showed Democratic presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry leading President Bush among likely voters, 50 percent to 41 percent.

Since that poll, three others have shown a much smaller gap. A CNN-Gallup Poll released Monday shows the race as a tie, while a Minnesota Public Radio-Pioneer Press poll produced by the Mason Dixon research firm shows Bush ahead by two percentage points, 46 to 44.

Strategic Vision, a Republican-oriented national poll of likely voters, released the latest poll, showing Kerry ahead in Minnesota by three percentage points, 48 to 45.

Eibensteiner said the other polls "are one more piece of damning evidence showing that the Minnesota Poll is flawed and failing the voters of Minnesota."

The newspaper defended its poll.

"Our polling methodology is public and well-established, and the paper will continue to poll, report our results and publish other polls," Star Tribune Editor Anders Gyllenhaal said.

Last week, Gyllenhaal called the GOP's demand to fire its longtime pollster, Rob Daves, a personal attack that was "shameful and misdirected."

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Information from: Star Tribune, http:// WWW.STARTRIBUNE.COM

Kerry needs to appeal to STUPID PEOPLE

I strongle suggest simplifying the messages. One line - easy to remenber. Hammer it! Hammer it! Hammer it!

BUSH = FAILURE

over and over and over and over.

Bush is doing this and it's working. Bush's messages are:

Kerry = flip-flop
Kerry will raise your taxes
Kerry is too weak to deal with terrorists

To counter that - these messages:

Bush = FAILURE (failed president)
Bush is dishonest (Bush is lying - stealing)
America is getting (will continue to get) worse under Bush

------------

The kerry campaign is making arguments that are too complex for the average stupid disinterested voter. The average voter has no idea who Haliburton is. They don't know the difference between voting for war authorization and voting to go to war. I get it - but I am not the average voter. It's time to start appealing to STUPID PEOPLE because Bush relates very well to stupid people. And stupid people are the ones who are going to determine the outcome of this election.

Please pass this on to the strategy folks in the Kerry campaign and to all Democrats.

Having said that - I'm glad I'm not the one running. ;)

Changing the Ecectoral College to Popular Vote

Congressman Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, wants to abolish the Electoral College in favor of a system where the president would be elected directly through a national vote. He is suggestion that they amend the Constitution to do this - but I think there might be a different way to achieve the same thing without changing the constitution.

The Constitution is implemented in federal law that gives the states control in how they choose their electors. I think that these federal laws can be changed in a way that would make it so that whoever wins the national popular vote wins all the national electors. This would make the popular vote and the electoral vote the same thing.

If Title 3 - Chapter 1 - Section - 1 were changed so as to require that the electors be selected not by the states according to their own rules - but by the states according to who wins the popular vote - then the electoral college would be preserved - but would more accurately reflect the will of the people.

I think this world work and be easier to pass than a Constitutional Amendment.

Judge orders US to find Bush Records

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge has ordered the Pentagon to find and make public by next week any unreleased files about President Bush's Vietnam-era Air National Guard service to resolve a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by The Associated Press.

U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. handed down the order late Wednesday in New York. The AP lawsuit already has led to the disclosure of previously unreleased flight logs from Bush's days piloting F-102A fighters and other jets.

Pentagon officials told Baer they plan to have their search complete by Monday. Baer ordered the Pentagon to hand over the records to the AP by Sept. 24 and provide a written statement by Sept. 29 detailing the search for more records.

``We're hopeful the Department of Defense will provide a full accounting of the steps it has taken, as the judge ordered, so the public can have some assurance that there are no documents being withheld,'' said AP lawyer David Schulz.

White House officials have said Bush ordered the Pentagon earlier this year to conduct a thorough search for the president's records, and officials allowed reporters to review everything that was gathered back in February.

Through a series of requests under the federal open records law and a subsequent suit, the AP uncovered the flight logs, which were not part of the records the White House released earlier this year.

Both Bush's and John Kerry's service records in Vietnam have become a major issue in the presidential race. New records that have surfaced in recent weeks have raised more questions.

Bush's critics say Bush got preferential treatment as the son of a congressman and U.N. ambassador. Critics also question why Bush skipped a required medical examination in 1972 and failed to show up for drills during a six-month period that year.

Bush has repeatedly said he fulfilled all of his Air National Guard obligations.

The future president joined the Texas Air National Guard in 1968, when he graduated from Yale. He spent more than a year on active duty learning how to fly and then mostly flew in the one-seat F-102A fighters until April 1972.

The pilot logs show a shift to flights in two-seat trainer jets in March 1972, shortly before Bush quit flying. Former Air National Guard officials say that could have been because F-102A jets were not available for Bush to fly or because of other reasons, such as concerns about Bush's flight performance.

Bush skipped his required yearly medical exam in 1972 in the months after he stopped flying in April. Bush has said he moved to Alabama to work on the unsuccessful Senate campaign of a family friend.

Bush never showed up for Guard service between late April and mid-October 1972. He won approval to train with an Alabama Air National Guard unit during September, October and November 1972, but more than a dozen members of the unit at that time say they never saw him there.

The only direct record of Bush appearing at the Alabama unit's base is a January 1973 dental exam performed at that base. Bush's Texas commanders wrote in May 1973 they never saw him between May 1972 and April 1973, a time when his pay records show he trained on 14 days.

Although military regulations allowed commanders to order two years of active duty for guardsmen who missed more than three straight months of drills, that never happened to Bush. Commanders had leeway at the time to allow guardsmen to make up for missed drills.

Vote for Bush - Die in Iraq

Bush will bring back the draft. If you are skilled and between the ages of 18 and 34 you get to go to Iraq to die for Bush's war.

Print this out and post it whereever youth can be found!

Selective Service eyes women's draft
The proposal would also require registration of critical skills

By ERIC ROSENBERG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- The chief of the Selective Service System has proposed registering women for the military draft and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the government about whether they have training in niche specialties needed in the armed services.

The proposal, which the agency's acting Director Lewis Brodsky presented to senior Pentagon officials just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, also seeks to extend the age of draft registration to 34 years old, up from 25.

The Selective Service System plan, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, highlights the extent to which agency officials have planned for an expanded military draft in case the administration and Congress would authorize one in the future.

"In line with today's needs, the Selective Service System's structure, programs and activities should be re-engineered toward maintaining a national inventory of American men and, for the first time, women, ages 18 through 34, with an added focus on identifying individuals with critical skills," the agency said in a Feb. 11, 2003, proposal presented to senior Pentagon officials.

Brodsky and Richard Flahavan, the agency's director of public and congressional affairs, reviewed the six-page proposal with Pentagon officials responsible for personnel issues. They included Charles Abell, principal deputy undersecretary for personnel and readiness, and William Carr, deputy undersecretary for military personnel policy.

The agency officials acknowledged that they would have "to market the concept" of a female draft to Congress, which ultimately would have to authorize such a step.

Dan Amon, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, based in Arlington, Va., said that the Pentagon has taken no action on the proposal to expand draft registration.

"These ideas were only being floated for Department of Defense consideration," Amon said. He described the proposal as "food for thought" for contingency planning.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department, said the Pentagon "has not agreed to, nor even suggested, a change to Selective Service's current missions."

Nonetheless, Flahavan said the agency has begun designing procedures for a targeted registration and draft of people with computer and language skills, in case military officials and Congress authorize it.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, say they oppose a revival of the military draft, last used in 1973 as the American commitment in Vietnam waned, beginning the era of the all-volunteer force.

Mandatory registration for the draft was suspended in 1975 but was resumed in 1980 by President Carter after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. About 13.5 million men, ages 18 to 25, currently are registered with the Selective Service.

"I don't know anyone in the executive branch of the government who believes that it would be appropriate or necessary to reinstitute the draft," Rumsfeld said last month.

At present, the Selective Service is authorized to register only young men and they are not required to inform the government about any professional skills. Separately, the agency has in place a special registration system to draft health care personnel in more than 60 specialties into the military if necessary in a crisis.

Some of the skill areas where the armed forces are facing "critical shortages" include linguists and computer specialists, the agency said. Americans would then be required to regularly update the agency on their skills until they reach age 35.

Individuals proficient in more than one critical skill would list the skill in which they have the greatest degree of competency.

PayPal to start fining their customers

If you buy a Playboy with your paypal debit card - PayPal might steal $500 from you.

PayPal to Levy Fines for Gambling, Porn

By Lisa Baertlein

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - PayPal, the online payments arm of eBay Inc. on Friday said it will soon fine people up to $500 for uses related to gambling, adult content or services, and buying or selling prescription drugs from noncertified sellers.

The new policy, which takes effect Sept. 24 and applies to both buyers and sellers, marks the first time PayPal has imposed fines for violations of its use policy, spokeswoman Amanda Pires said.

In addition to fines that could be applied to each violation, PayPal may take legal action to recover losses in excess of the fines, Pires said in an interview.

PayPal refuses to close my PayPal Account

In my continuing battle with PayPal I have sent them several emails demanding that they close my account and terminate the user agreement I have with them. They refuse to do so.

They have placed my account in a "Limited Status" which does not close the account. It gives them the ability to share my information according to their user agreement and to take money out of my account should they choose to do so.

Since they admit that they don't want to do business with me then they should close the account - but they worn't do that. They want to keep me under their user agreement and they want to maintain access to my checking account even after it's clear they won't do business with me.

After several emails from them I called them on the phone at their service center in Nebraska and talked to Dave and I recorded the phone call (1mb 9 minutes) so that everyone out there who has access to the Internet can listen to PayPal and experience what doing business is like in their own words.

After the phone call at the above link I got a call back from another person named Michele at PayPal - and - I recorded that phone call as well (3mb 25 minutes). This person is some higher up. In this phone call she admits that PayPal can still access my checking account. She admits that PayPal will retain access to my checking account forever - and she admits that PayPal still have access to all checking accounts that they have ever opened whether they were closed, linited, or locked.

This alll started on June 13th 2004 when Paypal limited my account and told me they were seizing my money for 180 days and that there was no appeal and that there was nothing I could do about it. However - they underestimated me and I had my money out in less that 2 weeks. Since then I've decided it's my mission to expose what scumbags PayPal is and to warn consumers about using them. I also intend to bring whatever heat I can on them to stop their unethical business practices.

For those of you who have questions about if it's legal to record this phone call, I will point out several things that make it legal.

First - They are in Nebraska - I am in California - so federal jurisdiction applies. That makes it one party consent.

Second - on the first phone call - the automated voice states clearly "This phone call may be recorded".

Third - I was talking to PayPal - not to individual persons at paypal. All the conversation is in the context of business.

Fourth - on the second conversation - they were recording me without giving me any type of verbal warning or otherwise that the call was being recorded. When I asked THEM if they were recording the call - they admitted that it might be. So on the basis that they record calls that they initiate without warning people they call that the call may be recorded they are consenting through their conduct and waiving any rights to notification themselves.

Fifth - They already know I record phone calls with them because I have already done it in the past and they have notes about this sort of thing in their computers on me.

Sixth - even if it were illegal - it's wrong for them to commit fraud - it's right for me to expose it - and if it turned out I were legally wrong I would appeal to a jury to override the law and find me innocent anyhow. They call it jury nullification - I call it jury empowerment. Besides - such a charge would give this issue the attention it needs to stop paypal from ripping people off.

Bush Family invests in India

Carlyle group [One of the Bush Family Businesses] set to invest $125 mn in India

The Carlyle Group plans to invest $125 million in India over the next 3-5 years. The venerable private equity investor has floated a $300-million Asia-focused fund, of which around 40% will be invested in India-driven companies.

Carlyle has till date invested around $25 million in India in various ventures like Usha Communications, SSKI, which owns the portal Sharekhan, and Educom.
The $125 million investment will exclusively be in IT and IT-enabled services. Said a Carlyle official, "It's not that we are not interested in other sectors, but the mandate of our fund has a clear focus on technology."

The official also added that the fund would also be cautious about investing in the telecom sector, though it didn't rule out that option.

"Though fewer deals were signed this year, they were big in size," said one VC.
VCs also argued that while most venture capital investment was coming in areas like IT and IT-enabled services, the potential of sectors like retail and media entertainment for attracting VC funding was quite high too. Said Reliance Entertainment's Amit Khanna, "Around $200 million worth of private equity have already been invested in the media and entertainment sector, and $100 million of such funding is expected over the next couple of years." This year's hit movie Saathiya was produced by a VC-funded company called Kaleidoscope Entertainment.

Venture capitalists also felt that given the current economic scenario, it was deemed safer to invest in mature companies in expansion stage, rather than startups. While the rate of return on startups was often 10 times of investment, that of expansion stage companies were around 5 times of investment. However, mature companies obviously had a lower risk profile.

As far as Carlyle is concerned, the group had last year done the final closure of a $600 million venture capital fund, Carlyle Venture Partners II LP in the US. The fund was the largest venture capital fund raised in 2002, according to VentureWire, an industry tracker. Earlier in the US, Prism Venture Partners raised a fund of $421 million and Centennial Ventures of Denver closed a $341 million fund. Carlyle group first raised $210 million in 1997.

Church of Reality Logos

For those of you who like my church of Reality - If you want to link to it - here's a logo you can use.

If it's real - we believe in it!

Church of Reality open Membership Email List

This is the first membership mailing of the Church of Reality - the religion I started besed on believing in everything that is real.

If you are getting this email it's because I added you to my Church of Reality mailing list. I'm starting to expand the Church of Reality web site and create some more useful content. If you don't want to be a member of this list - removal instructions are at the bottom of the page.

This list is an announce only list and I will keep the church spam down to a reasonable level.

It's time for me to make the Church of Reality a happening organization. I am still waiting for IRS approval - but the IRS is totally screwed up these days - like all other parts of the government - has fallen to almost dysfunctional. Bush has a lot of the IRS staff chasing terrorist funding and doesn't have the manpower to process not for profit orgs in a timely manner. It will probably take till 2005 before we get an answer on the 501(c)3 status. But - it's time to start moving to make something happen before then.

So - first thing is - spread the word. Here's the link to get people to join the list.

http://www.churchofreality.org/mailman/listinfo/membership

Feel free to pass this around and post this link on your web pages. I want to get as many interested people as possible.

With the election this year I am particularly frustrated with how much the masses can be persuaded to ignore reality. One of the goals of the Church of Reality is to raise reality to a higher level of consideration. Reality has become unimportant in the world and America has turned it's back of reality. I want to start a revolution to bring back reality into the daily lives of people and get them to ask the sacred question - "Is this Real?"

To that end this list is the first step in making that happen and the first mission is to grow this list. So - anything that any of you can do to help will be appreciated. After all - if they take away reality - what do we have left?

If for some reason any of you who I put in this list initially wants to unsubscribe - the information below will remove you from the list.

Thanks in Advance
Marc Perkel

Jesus vs Bush

Choice and Terrorism

Letter to the Editor

Vice President Cheney said last week that America will be move vulnerable to attack if we make the wrong choice this election. It's a statement I agree with - but not in the way Cheney thinks.

We were attached by Osama bin Laden who killed 3000 Americans on 9-11. In response - Bush and Cheney decided to attack Iraq that had nothing to do with it and let bin Laden get away. Now they talk about Osama bin Laden as if he doesn't matter.

And - it doesn't help thatBush's family are business partners with Osama bin Laden's family.

So - we have a choice between staying with the leaders who are going after the wrong enemy and someone who will go after bin Laden. The choice is clear. America will be safer with John Kerry as president.

North Korea Sets of Atmospheric Nuclear Test?

On September 9 a mushroom cloud about 3 miles wide appeared over North Korea. While the Bush controlled press await word form the Whitehouse for them to figure out how they are going to spin it - seems to me that there's only one thing that makes a 3 mile wide mushroom cloud. North Korea has tested a nuke by exploding it in the atmosphere.