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The GOP: not just stifling the vote in Florida

scaredpoet

So, I’ve pretty well documented how Florida is going to be a sticky problem state yet again this coming November… partly because hurricanes have blasted them into the stone-age, and because of well-documented GOP efforts to disenfranchise voters there. Well apparently, stifling the vote in Florida just wasn’t enough. Now, Republican party officials have been caught red-handed in similar hijinks, this time in West Virginia:

In a letter, Berkeley County clerk John Smalls cites calls from a cell phone were made to Eastern Panhandle democrats telling them that they were not registered to vote. The letter also said the calls informed democrats in some cases they wouldn’t be able to vote on Election Day.

John Ott is the top election official in Jefferson County. “This is an improper act and they should notify the proper authorities,” he said.

Maybe the GOP is starting to have doubts that their centerpiece candidate can be fairly re-elected?

The Solar Eclipse, and the Time Warp

scaredpoet

A solar eclipse is due to start on Thursday, and end on Wednesday.

The eclipse will be visible, weather permitting, from northeastern portions of Asia, including all of Japan, northeastern Mongolia and China, and much of Siberia. Since these regions are located to the west of the International Date Line, the eclipse will take place Thursday, Oct. 14.

To the east of the Date Line, however, the calendar date is Oct. 13. And it will be those lucky skywatchers who live in the western half of Alaska that will be able to see the final moments of the eclipse, when it reaches a spectacular peak just as the Sun sets beyond the west-southwest horizon late Wednesday afternoon.

Yahoo News has more.

Don’t knock on (or in) Woodbridge

scaredpoet

Not to be outdone by the Do Not Call list, the town of Woodbridge, New Jersey has enacted what might be the first Do Not Knock list. Similar in operation to the national Do Not Call list, the town plans to set up a registry where residents can sign up to ban unwelcome knockers from their doorsteps. Solicitors are required to avoid the doors of homes registered on the list (I wonder how they intend to distribute this list?). Violations will result in fines of between $50 and $100.

The list goes into effect on October 28, 2004.

According to the Woodbridge Sentinel, which ran coverage of the ordinance when it was first proposed:

If it were up to Mary Alice Diaz of Woodbridge, no one would knock on her door unless that person called first.

“I don?t want anyone knocking on my door unless they call and ask permission,” Diaz said from her home last Thursday. “I think it?s rude. My own dad had to call first before coming over.”

Wow, quite the shut-ins we’ve got in Woodbridge, eh? What happens if you’re also on the Do Not Call list? No visits from dear ol’ Dad for you, then. 🙂

In theory, this sounds like a good idea to prevent door to door solicitors and religious zealots from harrassing folks, but with nuggets of wisdom like that spewed from ol’ Mary Alice there, I’ll be sure never to find myself in an emergency in Woodbridge. The shut-ins might want to fine me if I need to knock on a door for help.

The Home News Tribune also has additional coverage.

The Micropayment

scaredpoet

Sometimes I wonder why I still use a toll-free and long distance provider. Considering my cell phone plan includes long distance, and my home phone is served by a VoIP carrier which incurs no long distance charges, there really isn’t much that a long distance carrier can do for me, considering the same service through them would actually cost me money, where the stuff I use every day essentially offers it for free.

Unfortunately, neither of those options can be trusted to be 100% reliable in emergencies, and events like 9/11 and the northeast blackout of 2003 has taught me the virtues of having a calling card handy, just in case I’m forced to use a payphone, and a toll free number in case I’m in good shape but someone else isn’t and must use a payphone to reach me.

The problem lies in the fact that cell phone coverage issues, VoIP failures, and major national emergencies just don’t crop up often enough to make this cost effective for poor AT&T or MCI. Observe september 2004, a month for me where the only urgent situation consisted of one episode of “oh crap, I forgot my cell phone at home and need to check my voice messages:”

ldbill

I have no idea how I’m going to pay this one. No, really, I don’t. Not because I don’t have the cash (hell, even if I was somehow completely broke I’m sure I could find three discarded pennies on the street). The problem is getting those three pennies out TO the carrier for payment:

– A check would cost 37 cents in postage to mail, unofficially imposing a 1233% surcharge on the payment. And that doesn’t include the cost of materials (ordering an $18 box of checks brings the cost of each individual printed check to 6 cents each, meaning the check isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on).

– My bank’s electronic bill pay feature is free, but will not accept or make payments that are less than $1.00.

– I could call up and pay by credit card. I don’t think the phone company will like that one.

Or, I could just let the balance languish and see if the phone company sends a collection agency after me. It would be interesting to see how serious they would be about those 3 cents. 🙂