Voter fraud? No, voter suppression.

Why are we hearing so much about voter fraud and so little about election fraud? After all, the odds of someone voting fraudulently are about the same as those of an American being struck and killed by lightning.

A microscopic evaluation of election data in the 2004 gubernatorial election in Washington state revealed that voter fraud occurred approximately 0.0009 percent of the time. An analysis of the 2004 presidential election in Ohio revealed a voter fraud rate of 0.00004 percent.

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Sunny Post-Partisanship Sounds Nice, but What’s Obama’s Larger Vision?

Responding to criticism that President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet is composed largely of recycled Bill Clinton appointees, Obama’s close advisor David Axelrod told the New York Times, "He’s not looking for people to give him a vision. He’s going to put together an administration of people who can effectuate his vision." A few days later, after introducing his foreign policy team, Obama himself declared, "I will be responsible for the vision that this team carries out, and I expect them to implement that vision once decisions are made.”   

Which leads to the inevitable question: What is Obama’s overarching vision? What is the philosophical framework that will animate his administration and guide his cabinet officers to adopt policies different from those they embraced in the past? 

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City of Austin’s Zero Waste Plan

Date: 4 Dec 2008 | posted in: waste - zero waste, Waste to Wealth | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Earlier this year, by adopting the State’s first Zero Waste Plan for a Texas community, the City of Austin took an important step to move toward a more sustainable future. Austin’s Zero Waste Plan takes into consideration Austin’s current and planned public and private solid waste infrastructure, as well as the city’s Climate Protection Program. Recommendations … Read More

Economic Benefits

Date: 1 Dec 2008 | posted in: waste - deconstruction, Waste to Wealth | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The economic benefits of deconstruction are substantial. One of the biggest challenges to “greening” businesses is overcoming the false perception that environmentally-sound business practices necessarily will increase costs and decrease profits. Deconstruction is helping break that myth. Companies that have participated in ILSR’s projects confirm that: Deconstruction is cost-effective. Not only can buildings be deconstructed more … Read More

Major Flaws Uncovered in Study Claiming Wal-Mart Has Not Harmed Small Business

Date: 1 Dec 2008 | posted in: Retail | 1 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A widely publicized study claims that there is no evidence that Wal-Mart has had a negative impact on the small business sector. In reviewing the study, ILSR found fatal flaws. For example, the study relies on the wrong US Census dataset. Using the correct data, our analysis shows that the number of independent retailers fell as Walmart grew between 1982 and 2002.… Read More

Choice — and a Voice: Broadband Advice for the Obama Administration

Date: 26 Nov 2008 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Fiber-to-the-home is essential infrastructure.  Communities know they need better broadband networks.  DSL is already too slow, especially on the upload side.  DOCSIS3 cable networks may promise fast speeds this year and next, but ever increasing numbers of users, each inevitably increasing bandwidth utilization, will soon overwhelm this legacy shared architecture.  

Our international competitors have invested in technologies that will bring very fast speeds all the way to the home.  In most areas of the U.S., this can only be achieved with fiber to the home.  And we can connect a fiber to every home if we make it a priority.  Our geography gives us a bigger challenge than others, but we are a nation that rises to challenges.
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