Free Republic

After analyzing the minutes of a meeting held in Chicago between Cook County and Chicago's city officials with the board of Sequoia, that remained in charge after the take over, and that of Smartmatic [6], Ochoa noted that unknown Venezuelan investors, operating via proxy European ventures, could indeed be the controlling power behind Smartmatic. Ochoa indicated that an entry in the minutes of the meeting aforementioned describes Cook County's Commissioner Peter Silvestri [14] asking to representatives of Sequoia/Smartmatic "who owns Sequoia?" (sic). The answer came from Honorable David Orr [15]: "Smartmatic International, which is owned by a Dutch company, owns...

FAMED for the biggest trees in the world, Sequoia National Park is now No. 1 in another flora department: marijuana growing, with more land carved up by pot growers than any other park. Parts of Sequoia, including the Kaweah River drainage and areas off Mineral King Road, are no-go zones for visitors and park rangers during the April-to-October growing season, when drug lords cultivate pot on an agribusiness-scale fit for the Central Valley. SNIP He and two seasonal employees face an army of growers who turn expanses of land set aside as untouched wilderness into contraband cropland. SNIP The growers...

BERKELEY — A tree beat out a former slave-owning president in the long-running campaign to change the name of a Berkeley elementary school, according to results released Wednesday. Students, parents and staff members voted 239 to 177 to change the name of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School to Sequoia Elementary School. "It was pretty close," said district spokesman Mark Coplan. The Berkeley Unified School District's Board of Education must approve the name change at its meeting Wednesday, Coplan said. "They could say no. ... I think it will bring out some pretty interesting discussion," Coplan said, adding that some fear a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Need a gift for that hard-to-please someone? For $10,000, you can rent the Sequoia Presidential Yacht for four hours and party on the Potomac, just like the commanders-in-chief once did. The USS Sequoia, first used by Herbert Hoover and sold by Jimmy Carter as a sign of his frugality, accommodates 50 people. And it comes loaded with presidential history. Dwight Eisenhower entertained Korean War veterans on the yacht. John Kennedy celebrated his 46th -- and last -- birthday on it. Lyndon Johnson watched movies on it. And Richard Nixon, convinced the Sequoia was bugged, had an electronic...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's attorney general sued the Bush administration Thursday over its plans for the Giant Sequoia National Monument, home to two-thirds of the world's largest trees. The U.S. Forest Service plan would illegally allow commercial logging in the monument, alleges the suit filed in San Francisco federal court. It argues former President Clinton's April 2000 proclamation creating the reserve south of Sequoia National Park bans logging unless it is "clearly needed" for public or environmental protection, which it says isn't the case under the management plan adopted in December. The service adhered closely to Clinton's proclamation, responded spokesman...

- A giant California sequoia considered to be the second biggest tree on earth is fighting for its life after being hit by a succession of snow storms and fires, a park ranger said. The huge Washington Tree in northern California's Sequoia National Park, which was 115 meters (254 feet) high and measures 45.9 meters (101 feet) in circumference, could be approaching the end of its life of more than 2,000 years. "It suffered from snow fall and more wind than normal this winter and that has weakened some sections of the tree," ranger Alexandra Picavet told AFP. "It lost...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An electronic voting system with a paper trail that was used in Nevada elections last year became the first approved for use in California on Friday. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley certified the Sequoia Voting Systems machine for use after Jan. 1, 2006. The machine prints a paper record of a voter's choices, which the voter can inspect through a screen for accuracy. If the paper record is correct and approved by the voter, it winds into the machine. If incorrect, the vote can be voided. San Bernardino County tested the Oakland-based company's machine in one precinct...

The research and activism arm of BlackBox Voting.com   CONTENTSIntroductionPart 1 - Can the votes be changed?Part 2 - Can the password be bypassed?Part 3 ? Can the audit log be altered? ************* Introduction According to election industry officials, electronic voting systems are absolutely secure, because they are protected by passwords and tamperproof audit logs. But the passwords can easily be bypassed, and in fact the audit logs can be altered. Worse, the votes can be changed without anyone knowing, even the County Election Supervisor who runs the election system. The computer programs that tell electronic voting machines how...

<p>A multibillion-dollar bill for the state's public employee retirement plan is coming due now that the plan's investment income has dried up.</p> <p>And taxpayers will be asked to pay it.</p> <p>The bill is expected to be $2 billion next year to cover commitments to the 1.3 million members of the California Public Employees' Retirement System. That's up 195 percent from last year's $677 million, and 43 percent over this year's $1.4 billion.</p>

McNally fire suspect faces arraignment; Not her first encounter with the law By Kurt Rivera KGET 17 News 07/26/02 Bakersfield - The Bakersfield woman accused of starting the massive McNally wildfire will be arraigned Friday morning in a federal court in Fresno. But documents reveal this is not her first brush with the law. Peri Van Brunt, accused of started the devastating McNally fire, lives in east Bakersfield, just two hours from the destruction. In the window of her home is a note saying to stay off and no one to answer the door. Next to the home is the...