I saw the article title and first line of about "A Look At Nader's Winsted" three or four times before I clicked on it.

A look at Nader's Winsted

10/25/2004
By LAURA WALSH
Associated Press Writer

WINSTED -- A first baseman's glove is what comes to mind when anyone asks Fred Silverio to describe his friend Ralph Nader...

I kept trying to think of how Ralph Nader could be like a first baseman's mit. I came up with a few but eventually clicked through and found out that the writer meant her comment totally differently than I took it. Still, I thought that I would share some of my thoughts with you:

"Why Ralph Nader is Like a First Baseman's Mit"

• He helps you reach for wild throws.
• He is well suited to be involved in nearly every play made on the field.
• He enables you to firmly tag your opponents.
• Enemies run away from his tag.
• Neighbors remember you fondly.
• People invite you on the David Letterman show if you have one.
• Nicknames like "Stretch" are yours for the taking.
• Though you have made 10,000 sure plays, you may get blamed if the rest of your teammates don't deliver and you let one slip past.
• Red Sox fans have a special place in their heart for you.
• You can still help 70 year old little boys remember how to play.

That's not so bad. Of course, that's not what the gentleman had in mind. He just remembered that Ralph was the only guy who had such a mit.

My Dad is the same age as Ralph. My Dad has always had a first baseman's mit. Guess I'll have to think of both my Dad and Ralph Nader every time I see a first baseman play.

Come to think of it, my Dad is an awful lot like Ralph but my Dad was born three months before Ralph so Ralph is an Aquarius while my Dad is a Scorpio. (Do Scorpios make better first basemen than Aquarians?)

Maybe Ralph still has the mit-- My Dad has his. Well, they both gave up playing baseball a long time ago. At least they are both still ready to play.

Posted Oct. 25, 2004 by John Bescherer (Notmtwain) Copyright 2004 by John Bescherer

They should cancel the Series. Killing that girl in Boston is the single worst instance of the results of sports hooliganism that I have ever seen.

And I think that the Boston police have to take full blame for that.

And the fans who were causing a ruckus too-- they should be ashamed.

And the Mayor and management of Boston-- they are the ones who set the policies-- these policies must change TODAY.

Instead of cracking down on alcohol, how about just asking people to stay home from the damn game unless they promise to treat it as a game... No one should live their lives as if it really mattered to them in any way.

Win or Lose-- Celebrate the teams efforts. Promise to do better next year if you lost. Forget about it if you lose. After all, it is just a game. That someone like that girl was killed shows what a bad joke the city of Boston is yet again.

How about that convention? I'll bet that brought in dozens of dollars of new revenue to the city.

The mayor and the police department of Boston are a bad joke.

By the way, the Red Sox had beaten the curse of the Bambino...

but there is a new curse... The Curse of the Babe...

I had thought that the Red Sox would win... but I have changed my mind. The people of Boston deserve to lose for another 86 years for this one. Not just the Red Sox-- the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, the Revolution--

All the teams should lose-- unless the police, the Mayor and all the people of Boston take full responsibility immediately and change their policies TODAY.

Show your support for peace and games and that you take responsibility and that you will work to insure that this kind of thing should never happen again-- Bring a rose to Fenway or to St. Louis to throw on the field for Victoria.

Not There= Nader

My neighborhood is plastered with 4 Nader signs... well, my cars, actually and there's one in the window of my house.

Still, there are 300% more Nader signs here this week than there were last week. At this rate, I hate to think of how many will be around this place by election time.

The kids will probably start dressing up as Ralph before you know it, singing:

LITTLE ORPHANT RALPHIE
(apologies to: James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916))
INSCRIBED WITH ALL FAITH AND AFFECTION
To all the little children: -- The happy ones; and sad ones;
The sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones;

The good ones -- Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely bad ones.

LITTLE Orphant Ralphie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn his board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Ralphie tells about,
An' the Re-pub-li-cuns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz jist his pants an' roundabout:--
An' the Re-pub-li-cuns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks they wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin'
'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Re-pub-li-cuns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' little Orphant Ralphie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Re-pub-li-cuns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

____________________________________________
No really, the signs is gettin' outta-hand. One day they was not there and then they wuz everywhere.
They was multiplying like locusts.
I kep' on a chuckin' em in the garage but they kep' on a multiplying.
Soon, it was all I could Kerry.
I had to trow the rest in the Bush.

I read yesterday in the New York Times that this was a pretty humorless election. I read this article this morning and thought that people might enjoy it.

Chat it up with Nader - York Daily Record
Chat it up with Nader

Mike Argento >> Copyright &copy York Daily Record 2004
122 S. George St., P.O. Box 15122
York, PA 17405, (717) 771-2000

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I was very pleased to see that Ralph Nader is up to 5% in the national polls. ( Time Magazine, 10/4/2004, p.18)

He should be included in the national debates.

He should at least be heard by people who take this whole thing seriously.

Here are his comments on the first debate:

Ralph Nader's Response

Like most of you, I've just finished watching the parallel interviews called the Presidential debates between Bush and Kerry. And I'd like to share a few comments briefly with you. First of all, neither have an exit strategy for the war in Iraq and both of them say we're going to win the war in Iraq-which means an endless occupation, which breeds resistance, and which does not cut the bottom out of the insurgency, because mainstream Iraqis are given no light at the end of the tunnel that they're going to get their country back with a set schedule under a US military and corporate (i.e. oil company) withdrawal from their nation.

Eisenhower, when he was running for president in 1952, promised the American people that he would get us out of the Korean War. It was a harder war to get out of because behind North Korea was Communist China and the Soviet Union, but he got us out of the Korean War. These two gentlemen can't even get us out of this quagmire war that we were plunged into, unconstitutionally, on a platform of fabrications, lies, and deception-and, one might add, against the better judgment of retired diplomatic, military, and intelligence officials.

Other points on the debates, Bush said it was going to be an all-volunteer army; he didn't quite say he was opposed to the military draft, but he moved a little closer to that. Bush still promotes this total boondoggle, un-workable missile defense system. 'Star Wars' has been condemned as unworkable by the leading physicists in the United States, many of them consultants to the Pentagon, but that doesn't stop Bush from spending ten billion dollars a year on that boondoggle. Kerry seems to be much stronger on the non-proliferation of nuclear materials issue, especially from former countries of the Soviet Union.

Both of them were very weak on Darfur and the Southern Sudan and the genocide that's going on there. They expressed sympathy and mentioned something obliquely about the African Union, but really indicated they had no plans to support the African Union with the necessary means to preserve those people from further slaughter.

All in all, I think the people got a longer look at John Kerry than they ever have. They're used to George W. Bush. I would say that within the narrow confines of the so-called debates there was the edge to Kerry over Bush. However, having said that, Jim Lehrer really narrowed the range of subjects to the debate. We didn't hear anything about the Israel/Palestine conflict; we didn't hear anything about global arms control in the broader sense; we didn't hear anything about the global trade treaties-WTO and NAFTA-nor did we hear anything about the need to do something about the military budget of the Pentagon, which is so wasteful.

So, the Nader/Camejo ticket remains the only one that was against the war-before it started, during, and after-and wants to bring the troops back home, stop the endless occupation and proliferation of violence in that area, and indeed reflects the growing majority of American people who want us out of there and who now think that sending troops there was a mistake.

So we want to continue spreading this effort of waging peace, muscularly, robustly to avert conflict and of putting the best foot forward in the United States, so it can become a humanitarian super power.

We again welcome your volunteer support, your signing up on our email list, your generous contributions.

Thank you, again.

People who want to help should find a Meetup group in their area.

Nader for President