Lurching into the present...

1) This is bound to get ugly someday: If you've ever worried about the source code for touch screen voting systems, and the things that could go accidentally or intentionally awry as a result of modifying that code, would it make you feel better to know that Franklin County has purchased the source code for its voting machines, and Matt Damschroder and the Franklin County BOE will now exclusively maintain and support that software in-house?


2) Pat Tiberi has been trying to convince people that it doesn't matter that he's much more conservative than his district, because of what he does for his constituents. At the same time, he's been trying to convince his buddies that he really is that conservative, by gradually ceasing to bring any federal money back into the district. It appears that he's getting even more cute about it. He hates pork. He loves pork.

3) Speaking of Pat, he'll be featured at an "energy summit" in Columbus on Sept. 2. I'll be in a tent on an island at the time, but somebody should show up to fight the crazy: the other featured participants include Jean Schmidt, John Boehner, Steve Austria and Mike Pence. All of their talking points are available here. I'll give you the short version: The biggest problem with American Energy is that we're not producing enough carbon/fossil-fuel energy. The second biggest problem is that we're wasting time by trying to figure out a workable disposal system for nuclear waste first, and then worrying about building new reactors. We should be building reactors while we figure out if there's a way to make Yucca Mountain and recycling viable. The third biggest problem is that Bush/Cheney proposed a bunch of things that Obama hasn't chosen to follow through with. We need to make Obama follow Bush/Cheney energy policy. And the fourth biggest problem is that people keep finding problems. If we make it nearly impossible for citizens to take energy companies to court, gut the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act, and turn environmental policies over to the states, it'd be a lot easier to solve the first three problems. Oh, and by the way, anthropogenic climate change? Not in the top 20. If you're the type that's been jealous of unruly right-wing protestors in recent weeks, the OSU/Nationwide/Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H center event at 10 a.m. (and 11:30 a.m.?) Sept. 2, 2009 "will be open to the public and press." Just fyi.

4) I've updated my ActBlue page, so that readers can now easily donate to Jennifer Brunner's U.S. Senate campaign, or Paula Brooks' U.S. House campaign.

5) If you value the future of the Democratic Party in Ohio, a pretty darn good argument could be made for donating to Marilyn Brown, sooner rather than later. Of course, unlike donations to Brunner or Brooks, donations of up to $50 to Brown are refundable if you haven't made a similar donation so far in calendar 2009. At the moment, I don't have Brown on my ActBlue page, although her on-line donations appear to be handled exclusively through ActBlue. A strange interpretation of campaign finance law by the OEC in 2006 effectively eliminated ActBlue as a viable method for contributing to state-level campaigns in Ohio (including disqualifying your contribution for the aforementioned tax credit). I'm assuming something has changed, and I'll let y'all know when I get clarification. Of course, I'm sure that checks made out to 'Brown for Ohio' and sent to 309 S. 4th St., Ste. 100, Columbus, OH, 43215 would be perfectly acceptable on all fronts.

6) A nice non-partisan debunking of 5 big lies in the health care reform debate. One of them even comes from a Democrat.

7) More later on Bexley's City Council election. Three incumbents and one challenger are running. The challenger, Richard Sharp, applied for the vacant council position when Helen MacMurray left in 2007, a vacancy which was eventually filled by Hanz Wasserburger. The cover letters and resumes for all applicants at that time, including Sharp's, are available here.