George Maschke's Home Page » politics

Glenn Beck Says Stop Listening to Morons!

George Maschke — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:13:06 +0000

US Citizens May Be Added to Treasury Department Black List

George Maschke — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:40:19 +0000

Mansour Arbabsiar

Today I learned that US citizens may be added to the “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDN) list maintained by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Those who are added to this list have their assets blocked “and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.”

On Tuesday, 11 October 2011, US citizen Mansour Arbabsiar (who also holds Iranian citizenship) was added to the SDN list:

ARBABSIAR, Manssor (a.k.a. ARBABSIAR, Mansour), 805 Cisco Valley CV, Round Rock, TX 78664; 5403 Everhardt Road, Corpus Christi, TX 78411; DOB 15 Mar 1955; alt. DOB 6 Mar 1955; POB Iran; citizen United States; Driver’s License No. 07442833 (United States) expires 15 Mar 2016; Passport C2002515 (Iran); alt. Passport 477845448 (United States); Driver’s License is issued by the State of Texas (individual) [SDGT] [IRGC]

Arbabsiar is in custody on charges of conspiring, among other things, to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

I am not a lawyer, but it sure seems to me that pre-trial blocking of a citizen’s assets and prohibiting US persons from dealing with them amounts to punishment without due process of law.

Other United States citizens on the SDN list include Anwar Nasser Aulaqi (who remains on the list some two weeks after his assassination-by-drone), alleged Mexican drug cartel bosses Blanca Cázares Salazar and Victor Cázares Gastelum, alleged Shabab militia member Omar Shafik Hammami, alleged terrorist plotter Raed M. Hijazi, Muhammad Hamid Khalil Salah, who was “found not guilty of conspiring to illegally finance Hamas terrorist activities in Israel” but was convicted on an obstruction of justice charge “related to lies prosecutors said he told about his ties to Hamas,” and Abdul Rahman Yasin, who is wanted in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Social Media Site Standings a Poor Predictor of Electoral Outcome in California’s 36th Congressional District

George Maschke — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:27:11 +0000

Although as observed in my earlier post, progressive challenger Marcy Winograd had significantly more friends/followers/subscribers on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube than incumbent Jane Harman going into the Democratic party primary for California’s 36th congressional district, Harman handily won the election with 59% of the vote versus 41% for Winograd. In terms of raw numbers, Harman received 22,446 votes versus 15,732 for Winograd. As it turns out, the great majority of those voting in the primary followed neither candidate on social media sites.

Marcy Winograd Leads Jane Harman on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

George Maschke — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:47:51 +0000

On Tuesday, 8 June 2010, progressive Democrat Marcy Winograd is challenging blue dog incumbent Jane Harman for the party’s nomination for California’s 36th district congressional seat. I support Winograd because of her firm antiwar position. (Harman backed the invasion of Iraq.) I also appreciate Winograd’s denunciation of Israel’s recent commando raid on volunteers bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and am offended by Harman’s “Bubble” television ad smearing Winograd. If Jane Harman is your representative, I hope you’ll vote for Marcy Winograd this Tuesday!

If the two candidates’ standings on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are anything to go by, it looks like Winograd has a real chance of unseating Harman.

As of early Sunday morning California time, on Facebook, Jane Harman has 1,080 friends compared to 2,412 for Marcy Winograd:

On Twitter, Harman has 226 followers compared to 497 for Winograd:

And on YouTube, Harman’s campaign has just one subscriber, while Winograd’s has 28:

Election Advertising in The Hague

George Maschke — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:23:36 +0000

Public Election Billboard in The Hague

Elections for The Hague’s city council are to be held on 3 March 2010, and around the city, the municipality has erected temporary billboards on which each party fielding candidates in the election can place a poster putting its case to the voters.

I’ve never seen anything like this done in an American election. It’s not a bad idea, and something we might want to emulate, especially if publicly financed campaigns are to be embraced.

Barack Obama for President

George Maschke — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:46:59 +0000

For the first time in a long time, there is a candidate for president of the United States whom I can enthusiastically support: Barack Obama. I’m deeply impressed by his intelligence and candor, and in particular his early public opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the fact that he does not accept campaign contributions from corporate interests or lobbyists.