The Bush Administration has been busy suppressing any discussion of climate change or global warming from a range of documents including press releases and communications with congress. In a story carried by the Christian Science Monitor the claim is made by more than 120 scientists across seven federal agencies. They say they have been pressured to remove references to “climate change” and “global warming” from a range of documents, including press releases and communications with Congress.

Roughly the same number say Republican appointees altered the meaning of scientific findings on climate contained in communications related to their research.These findings, part of a new report compiled by two watchdog groups, shed new light on complaints by a scattering of scientists over the past year who have publicly complained that Bush administration appointees have tried to mute or muzzle what researchers have to say about global warming. Click here to read more in the Christian Science Monitor.

Niether rain, nor sleet nor bad weather kept the SaddleBrooke Democrats from doing their duties. The SaddleBrooke Democrats have volunteered to pick up highway debris on Milepost 99 to 100 of the Florence Highway. And, you guessed it, today was our day. Six of us under the captaincy of Norm Schickedanz picked up about eight large sacks of unsightly trash. Volunteers included Bob Zimdar, Stan Boicourt, Norm Shickedanz, June Boicourt and Stephanie Griffith. Mark took the picture.

This past weekend was fairtime in Sacaton with the Gila Indian Fair in full swing. There was a rodeo and a midway with lots of vendor booths offering shirts, jewelry and pottery. The main attraction was a huge pow wow tent with hundreds of native Americans in full costume compteing in a series of Indian Dance contests. What color and what fun!

The main attraction was, of course, the Pinal County Democrats who manned a booth for voter registration. Among the volunteers were Stephanie Griffith from SaddleBrooke with Carolyn Gordon from Gold Canyon and Barbara Njos from Apache Junction. If you would be interested in volunteering to help in a booth, call 825-3219 for information. Our next nearby opportunity will be at the Oracle Oaks Festival in early April.

Here is a story that comes under the heading of “too late.”

Two election workers were convicted Wednesday for rigging a recount of the 2004 presidential election to avoid a more thorough review in Ohio’s most populous county.

Jacqueline Maiden, elections coordinator of the Cuyahoga County Elections Board, and ballot manager Kathleen Dreamer each were convicted of a felony count of negligent misconduct of an elections employee. They also were convicted of one misdemeanor count each of failure of elections employees to perform their duty. They face sentances of up to 18 months at a hearing to be held in late February.

Click here to read more from the Boston Hearld. 

As has been expected for weeks, John Kerry announced that he would not be a Presidential candidate in 2008.  A good Democrat and liberal thinker, John Kerry has not proved to be a forceful candidate.  We hope this means that he will donate the $10 to $20 million of campaign funds left over from his unsuccessful race in 2004.

In his announcement, John is expected to announce his intention to run for an additional term as Senator from Massachusetts.  Click here to read more in the New York Times.

W, affectionately known in these pages as “Worst Ever” got some more bad news this evening. And, since the bad news is tied to John McCain as well, it is especially sweet for Democrats. Tomorrow, George Bush will give his pen-ultimate State of the Union speech. This evening he is greeted with the news that the American public approval of his presidency has fallen to 28% the lowest point so far for his administration. A full two thirds of the American public oppose the sending of additional troops to Iraq and only 29% are in favor.

Given that this strategy is so closely tied to John McCain, it seems highly likely that if it fails, the failure will be ascribed to both John McCain and George Bush. Such a failure would have a direct impact on McCain’s future. Click here to read more about the CBS News poll.

This evening a second national poll has been published by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal.  The headline here is the two thirds of the American public now believe that the Iraq war cannot be won and they have given up on his presidency.

In addition, the poll finds that nearly another two-thirds believe he shouldn’t move ahead with his troop increase to Iraq, if Congress passes a non-binding resolution opposing it. And it shows that just two in 10 want Bush taking the lead role in setting policy for the country. Click here to read more of the NBC/WSJ poll.

The first contingent of the McCain/Bush Escalation arrived Saturday in Bagdad according to the BBC World Service. We lost 25 American soldiers yesterday in what appears to be the third worst day in the sad history of the war. Four Americans were lost in fire fights in Anbar provence and twelve were killed when a Blackhawk helicopter was shot down. The remaining Americans lost their lives in various incidents across Bagdad and Iraq. Click here to read more from the BBC News Service.

Details of the helicopter crash are reported by the New York Times. On one of the deadliest days for United States forces since the Iraq war began, an American Black Hawk helicopter crashed in a Sunni area north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing all 12 soldiers onboard, the United States military said today.  Iraqi officials in the area said the helicopter had been shot down, though there was no immediate confirmation from American officials.

The stories from BBC and the New York Times were filed late last evening. The latest story from Associate Press adds tewnty-fifth death.

The House of Representatives passed a bill to eliminate some $14 billion in annual subsidies paid to the likes of Exxon-Mobil and Haliburton. Instead the money will be channeled into renewable energy projects and research for new energy technologies.

W (worst ever) and the oil industry fought the losing fight. They contened that this “unfairly singled out oil companies.” Isn’t that too too bad! Poor Exxon-Mobil is only netting about a billion a day. That’s almost as much money as we spend each day in Iraq! Or rather we should say that is how much the American public borrows each day to suppor the war and Exxon-Mobil’s access to Iraqi oil.

The Bush administration and oil industry spokesmen also critized the policies for lowering the incentives to pump American oil.  Apparently their solution is Drain America First!

Todays New York Times has details…

The Pinal County Democrats hold their meetings at 7pm on the third Wednesday of each month in Florence. We generally gather for a dutch treat supper at about 5:30 pm at the A&M Pizza on Highway 287 west of Florence. This is great opportunity to meet and greet fellow Democrats in an informal setting. The meeting is held at the offices of the Pinal County Attorney at 31 N Pinal St. Carpooling is generally available from SaddleBrooke.

By: Karen Schickedanz
Arizona Democrats racked up some “pretty impressive” numbers in “supposedly unwinnable” state legislative districts last November, and they can do more of the same next year if Democratic voter turnout continues to increase, said Rick McGuire, vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and a previous treasurer of the state party.  McGuire was the guest speaker at the January meeting of the SaddleBrooke Democratic Club.

Pointing to victories in several districts, including Legislative District 26 which includes  SaddleBrooke, McGuire said the high Democratic voter turnout resulted in six new state House seats for Democrats and one new Senate seat—“the best since 1975.”  Contributing to the victories were crossover votes from moderate Republicans turned off by far right wing GOP candidates as well as votes from Independents, McGuire said.

“But just as we can gain votes in Republican districts with good candidates and voter turnout, we can lose seats in Democratic strongholds if we don’t pay attention and get out the vote,” he said.

McGuire also pointed out that Arizona shouldn’t be considered a Republican state.  “Approximately one-fourth of adults in the state are Republicans, one-fourth are Democrats, one-fourth are ‘other,’ and one-fourth aren’t registered,” he said.  “Since when did one in four become the majority?”

Also speaking at last month’s SBDC meeting, SaddleBrooke resident Joe Robison said the Pinal County Democratic Party will be working this year to increase voter registration among Native Americans.  Robison recently was re-elected chair of the Pinal County Democratic Party, and Mark Griffith, also a SaddleBrooke resident, was elected the second vice chair.

In other business, Elizabeth Hess was re-elected chair of the SaddleBrooke Democratic Club, Larry Linderman was elected vice-chair, Mark Griffith was elected treasurer, and Anne Hammond and Betty Jacobs were elected co-secretaries.

The SaddleBrooke Democratic Club meets regularly at 3 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month in the SaddleBrooke Activities Center, 64518 Galveston Lane, in Unit 1.  For the February 10 meeting, William Dixon, a professor of international relations and research methods at the University of Arizona, was scheduled to discuss U.S. foreign policy.

The March 10 meeting will present Malcolm Hughes, a professor of dendrochronology with the world-renowned U. of A. Tree Ring Laboratory.  Dr. Hughes will discuss “Global Climate Change: The Evidence.”  He kicked off the university’s College of Science’s global climate change lecture series with this topic.  More information about climate change can be obtained prior to the meeting by viewing the award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”  The film features a presentation by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, a long-time student of the environment.  It recently was screened in SaddleBrooke, and DVD copies of the film are available at film rental stores.

More information about the SaddleBrooke Democratic Club is available from club president Elizabeth Hess at 825-2557.