Stateline.org points out something that, frankly, I had not considered. States that have
rushed to become among the first to cast 2008 primary votes
[PDF] are not just moving up their primaries; they are moving up their early
balloting as well. A third of
all votes cast in 2008 could be absentee or early votes, an election watcher tells Stateline.org. The ballots
will have to go out soon -- so we could be about 16 weeks from the first
votes being cast.
Stateline.org says:
Overlooked
in the hullabaloo over states’ scrambling to be first in line to choose
nominees for the White House is the impact the compressed calendar will
have on early and absentee voting.
Voters
in California, Arizona and New Jersey could be casting ballots to
choose nominees for the White House barely a week after most Americans
are sweeping the confetti from 2008 New Year's celebrations.
"People
think [states] are just moving the primary up. No. They are moving
their entire election processes up," Donna Brazile, chair of the
Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute and formerly Vice President Al Gore's campaign manager, told
Stateline.org. That means some states will have to have their ballots printed and ready to mail as early as December, she said.
California's
election officials expect to start mailing ballots on Dec. 27 to voters
who requested them, while New Jersey and Tennessee are among states
planning to do the same in within the first week of January before
their Feb. 5 presidential primaries. Early in-person voting begins Jan.
10 in Arizona. Absentee ballots for military personnel are mailed weeks
ahead of those dates.
Coast Guard to Withhold Rescue Information
The Navy Times reports that the Coast Guard has decided to withhold the names of people it rescues after the active search is over. The ruling stems from a request a couple of years ago by a Cleveland
Plain Dealer journalist who wanted to know if the Coast Guard was, as rumor had it, rescuing the same people year after year -- people who put themselves in peril when ice fishing.
I can't imagine what the Coast Guard is thinking in claiming that these records should not be available by a Freedom of Information Act request. Generally, rescue records of civilians are not covered by medical privacy laws. Could there be some Department of Homeland Security exemption because the Coast Guard is part of the military?
If you have any experience with this kind of case, please tell us about it in the reader feedback section of this column.
Whoops -- Not Whooping Cough
Remember all those
2006 reports about
a big jump in whooping cough cases around the country? Thousands of
people ended up on antibiotics, and one New Hampshire hospital even limited
admissions for awhile.
Now we learn
that a lab test commonly used to diagnose the condition misdiagnosed cases -- and it is
possible there has been no big increase in whooping cough cases.
Facebook, with WrinklesThe International Herald Tribune of Paris mentions a new twist in the world of social networks:
Technology investors and entrepreneurs, long obsessed with
connecting to teenagers and 20-somethings, are starting a host of new
social networking sites targeting their parents and grandparents. The
sites have names like Eons, ReZoom, Multiply, Maya's Mom, BOOMj and
Boomertown.
Al's Morning Multimedia -- Removing the Highest ToiletThe New York Times does a terrific job with a story about how there used to be a high-altitude toilet on California's Mount
Whitney, but now rangers are
issuing Wagbags: personal waste disposal bags that hikers must carry
with them. The video that accompanies the article gives you an
idea of why the new strict (some would say overly strict) policy is
being put in place.
Usually I like videos to be raw and less-produced,
but this one works very well because it gives the reader an experience
that is
in addition to, not a repeat of, the newspaper story. That is
the key with online content -- it is not about giving more information, it
is about providing a multi-sensory experience.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
I'm currently working on a piece highlighting the rescue work...
