vote by mail rocks! more states should do the same, i got the ballot several weeks in advance and had plenty of time to look up any info i needed in the comfort of my own home. the ballot is huge, size of a filing folder, tri-folded, cost 2 stamps to mail. people say that this sucks for candidates that haven't gotten a chance to campaign in those states, but maybe it wouldn't have made any difference anyway. just look at how much Giuliani have spent in Florida and everyone had said that it was his state, but he still lost big time to McCain.

to my surprise, several of my friends from nyc are rooting for Hillary. i haven't looked into the democratic candidates too much, but i think i would pick Obama over Hillary any day. i also realized that not only myself, but many of my friends seem to be a lot more active in this presidential election than before. i don't remember anyone even mentioning primaries last time around. i also convinced another friend of mine to register to vote, his not voting for Ron Paul, but better than not voting.

the candidates are dropping left and right, Giuliani is said to drop today. so basically down to 3 in dem and 4 in gop. it's unfortunate that Kucinich dropped out, but dem seem to have had their eyes set on just Hillary and Obama very early on, and i really don't like that. we are still months from nov and pretty early in the primaries, really should give less well known candidates more chance.

i had some Ron Paul material in my cube, a co-worker noticed and told me that she is also voting for him in the primaries but will probably switch to Obama in the actual election. i haven't decide what i will do if Ron Paul end up dropping out later on, for now i am only focusing on him and will worry later if he does not work out. it's rare to find a candidate that i agree with so well, that i think it would be quite sad to let him slip pass.

" I'm sure that all of the candidates will turn America around, 360 degrees."

"Live free or Diebold." - They now say New Hampshire's primary was rigged.

‘Errors’ Transposing Votes and Diebold Machines Removed Votes From Obama and Paul
Where Paper Prevailed, Different Results
New England voting machine firm has executive criminal record

Hacking Democracy - documentary from HBO

I don't know a whole lot about Mexican border or Mexican immigrants, but I do have plenty of personal experience and knowledge about Chinese immigrants. So when I found out Ron Paul voted for that Mexican fence, I thought it was ridiculous and waste of money. His stance on Border Security and Immigration Reform is the only thing I don't like as much. I have kind of been avoiding this topic, but today I decided to go back to his site and reread it, and realized they are not bad, just not sufficient in my point of view.

Chinese people used to believe, and many still believe that the streets in America are paved with gold. My grandparents have been in and out of the states the past couple of years, they have seen how hard my parents and our relatives work in order to earn a living, yet when they go back, they would still tell people how wonderful America is, it's such a big fat lie.

People in Chinatown work on average 12hrs a day, my mom used to work from 9am til 9pm everyday, 7 days a week, to earn about $10/hr. I would make the dinner and we would eat when my mom comes home at 10. There were plenty people that worked longer and harder. You earn by number of pieces you sew, and usually its about few cents per piece. People worked like mad, took very few breaks, and they had to, they were illegal immigrants.

It costs each person about $30k to come to the states illegally, on boat, or whatever, and it's very dangerous thing to do, could very well cost your life. For women, it means you will probably get raped. You have no idea if you will make it, or if your snake head will betray you and leave you stranded half way. Even if you do make it here, you have no idea when you will be able to see your family again. Tons of people knowingly come here under such conditions, because they think America is a gold mine, they think they will have a chance of obtaining better living for their family. Though many say they didn't realize how hard the life is here, and probably would not have risked it. What amazes me is, when they do go back, they would still act as if America is heaven, giving away their hard earned money and gifts like it's nothing, thus making more people want to come here.

Anyway, if someone is willing to pay this much and risk their lives to come here, do you really think a little fence is going to stop them? And with such a debt on their back, do you think they would let you deport them without a fight?

I think it took 4 years for my dad to get us here, as family member of course, which I believe is suppose to be the fastest. Then it took me 6 or 7 years to get my citizenship, the process have gotten slower and slower. I think it has taken about another 6 or 7 years to get my aunts here, as my grandparents children and family. I don't know how long it takes to get work VISA, I think it took my aunt several years to get a visitor VISA. It just doesn't seem very effectively if the wait is this long. When someone needs to feed their family, there is no way they will be this patient.

I know a lot of my co-workers are on VISA, I guess when you are well educated and sponsored by a large company, you will probably get your VISA faster. Or if you are a student. But the people in Chinatown had got no one to sponsor them, not the factories, or the Chinese restaurants. Recently I had to sponsor some relative to come here, the whole idea seemed really silly to me. Why should I be responsible for them if they aren't able to make a living.

Here is an wild idea, instead of paying some snake heads and risking their lives, why not pay the US gov't that $30k to come here safely and promise to pay the income tax, thus showing they can make a living, and if they can't, well then send them back, since obviously they aren't doing any better here then before. This way, gov't gets the money, and people are properly documented. Next, let them sponsor their family to come here as well, so instead of having loads of money going out of the country to their family, it will be spent here. Also people generally behave better when their family is near by, instead of being yong/middle aged men, alone, half way across the globe. Why would anyone give away money if they don't have to, why would anyone not take the free health care if they have the chance? And why would anyone would would gamble their life, already in huge debt, give money to the gov't or spend it on health care, let along health insurance. The gov't need to provide incentive for people to pay the tax, pay for the services. By the way, another reason people in Chinatown generally don't have health insurance, is because it costs only $20 to see a Chinese doctor.

Oh one more thing, why is it that every time a politician talk about immigration reform, they have to mention citizenship, do they really think that many immigrants care about citizenship? The only thing you get from citizenship is ability to vote, but with the way US gov't is, it's not that appealing. Plus you lose your Chinese passport and Chinese ID, which is so much more convenient and cheaper for when you go back to China, than a US passport.

Just ordered bunch bumper stickers and slim jims, let me know if you want some. I'm going to put fridge magnets on to bumper sticker before sticking it on to my car.

NY:
Party Change deadline: 10/12/07
Registration deadline: 1/6/08
Primaries: 2/5/08

PA:
Party Change deadline: 3/24/08
Registration deadline: 3/24/08
Primaries: 4/22/08

CA:
Party Change deadline: 1/21/08
Registration deadline: 1/21/08
Primaries: 2/5/08

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/states/

Added: Lately, I been spent almost every night reading Ron Paul related stuff, Jim calls them Paulnography. I have never care much about politics before, until this year. I don't agree with all of Ron Paul's stands, but I like his principles and his voting records and his stands on the issues most important to me. Anyway, there is another money bomb coming up, I already donated couple hundred this year, I'm probably going to donate again before that. I'm just deciding between donating another few hundred or maxing it out. I'm not rich, but I'm not poor either, other than voting, this is almost the least I could. If Ron Paul actually does get in office, all this money will be worth it, and I will get it back in tax break anyway.

Ron Paul on PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer 10-12-2007 - many key issues are discussed



You Choose '08 Spotlight: Ron Paul on Civil Liberties


You Choose '08 Spotlight: Ron Paul on Entitlements


You Choose '08 Spotlight: Ron Paul on Healthcare


You Choose '08 Spotlight: Ron Paul on the IRS


more at http://www.youtube.com/user/RonPaul2008dotcom


I don't like his immigration platforms, I think there are better ways to solve that problem, but I like his platforms on other issues, many of which are more urgent anyway. No candidate is perfect, he won't be able to do everything he wants to, most are pretty big reforms and will take time, but at least I can trust him to not sell out to the lobbyists. Maybe this will help break the 2 party system.

join the ron paul revolution. there is a grassroots movement, this november 5th, to "money bomb" ron paul's campaign, by having everyone donate together on one day. by last nite, about 18,000 people has signed up and pledged to donate. so far today, the website reports approaching $6m and very close to beating Mitt Romney's record of raising $3.1m in one day.

interesting stats here http://ronpaulgraphs.com/ and here http://paulcash.slact.net/

banner from last nite
banner as of 5pm pst

today is the day, now is the time!
donate to the campaign, make a difference :)
i like how one digger put it, i will get the money back when ron paul gets rid of income tax =p

related news, hope kucinich's impeachment plan goes well on the floor tomororw.
in other news, congrats to tartan racing aka red team for winning grand challenge, congrats to dave :)
one more good news, go steelers! 38 to 7 against ravens

ron paul bashers on digg and reddit ticks me off to no ends. i wouldn't mind if they are actually criticizing his platform, dissing him because his one of the lesser known candidates is ridiculous and no better than the bias sell out mass media. so sure that he wouldn't win if media didn't try so hard to tuck him away? or just afraid? why not actually name a better candidate. all that talk about why dem is not impeaching bush, yet ready to hand the country to hillary/giuliani, why bother with the election then? is that how much you value your vote, your country, your freedom?

Just changed my political party to Republican.

California has this thing called permanent absent vote, PAV, basically mail in vote. According to last years record/survey, there were almost 4 million PAV's ; according to 2006 US census bureau's estimates, there are 36 billion people in the state, 11% of the people in the state vote by mail. I'm going to try it out this year, supposedly get the package 29 days in advance. Don't need to skip work, don't need to mess with wa ever voting machine they decide to use. Still need to decide if I want to change my registration to republican for 2008 primary. Oh another advantage of mail in vote, at least I assume, is probably easier to do write in vote.

awhile ago sabby posted this quiz, not bad, it got my top 3 candidates, but a lot of issues are not simply black and white.

Abortion Rights - i'm pro-choice, that doesn't mean i think people should liberally use abortion as birth control method. if abortion gets outlawed, then it will go underground, and it's a very dangerous procedure to be performed by unlicensed doctor. abortion actually is really bad for women's health, no matter what stage it's performed at, and it decreases the chance of future contraception. really govt should be putting more effort in health/sex education and prevent unintended pregnancy.

Death Penalty - oppose, it's actually kind of weird coming from me since i grew up in china. basically i grew up in a culture where life does not have as much value, i was taught since young that your country comes before your family, which comes before yourself. anyway the main reason for opposing death penalty is wrongful conviction, plus i don't trust the justice system that much. i used to believe the deterrence and economic arguments for death penalty but i think there are ways to resolve that.

No Child Left Behind - oppose, although this policy has good intention, it just does not work at federal level and only makes our education system even worst. certain region will/does benefit from this policy and should be implemented by the local govt.

Embryonic Stem Cells - support, there is no doubt this will have huge benefit to the society. similar to abortion, it's better to legalize it and have good control on it then outlawing it and let it go under ground.

ANWR Drilling - not sure, i wish we could simply find a good alternative renewable fuel then we would probably be a lot closer to world peace.

Kyoto - oppose, the agreement is not very fair, there is no reason we can't do it without signing it.

Assault Weapons Ban - support, while i rather not have the restriction, i don't really see why an average person would have a need for it.

Guns - Background Checks - support, again although i rather have more liberty, this is one of the few cases i will bend a little. though i think a middle ground of having some sort of lesser application or wait on gun purchase would be sufficient for most cases.

Patriot Act - oppose
Guantanamo - oppose
Torture - oppose
Wiretapping - oppose

Citizenship Path for Illegals - not sure. i don't think most illegal immigrants care for citizenship, most just want a way to make a living, but its not healthy for the country to have large amount of people making money and not paying taxes. if it was up to me, probably some sort of visa or permanent residence status that require you to file taxes, but that's a little unfair since then you can't vote.

Border Fence - oppose, i wasn't sure before, but recently watch an episode of antony bordain no reservation - mexico, building a fence of that size is just ridiculous, there are other alternatives.

Net Neutrality - oppose, good intension, but i don't trust the govt with all the tele-com lobbyist to get this right.

Iran Sanctions - not sure
Iran - Military Action - not sure
Iraq War - oppose
Iraq Troop Surge - oppose
Iraq Withdrawal - support, i'm not sure if we should withdraw immediately or gradually. in general i hate US muddling in other countries business, and most of time it's only been for money. but we have screwed up so badly in iraq, it seems we are morally obligated to fix it, but then even though democrats been in congress for awhile, it still havent help at all.

Minimum Wage Increase - oppose, i dont think it does anything except raising inflation, if anything should be find ways to slow down inflation.

Same-Sex Marriage - not sure
Same-Sex Civil Union - support, i dont really care what it's called, as long as there is federal support for LBGT right and same benefit for same sex marriage. i guess i rather govt get rid of all occurrence of the word marriage, where ever it might actually have that written down, and replace it with civil union.
Same-Sex Constitutional Ban - oppose, what happened to equal rights, what happened to separation of church and state.

Universal Healthcare - oppose, again, good intension, but i don't trust the govt, with all the hmo lobbyist around, plus they already screwed up social security.

just donated a little more money to ron paul 2008 campaign, going to donate some more when i get my first pay check in few weeks. looked around the site store for good pumper sticker, too bad the merchandise sale doesnt go towards the campaign, would feel a little better about buying stuff heh. thinking if i should get a t-shirt, would be too much, like too in your face?

i decided to read thru all [the available] candidates platform on wikipedia, here is ron paul's, all the other republican candidates' are ridiculous, i guess that's as expected since i'm not republican. some democratic candidates are reasonable, like gravel and kucinich. i'm thinking changing my party to republican so i can vote in the primary, also if i should do write in if ron paul doesn't end up on the ballot.

if you don't know ron paul, look him up, watch few videos on youtube.

from digg:
"Ron Paul Tops McCain in Cash on Hand
In an exclusive "This Week" interview, Paul says he has 2.4 million in the bank."
awesome news! donated $25 just before end of june, going to try donate more for next round. i think it's great that the internet community is helping him get in the main stream media.