Workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber plants across the country have been on strike for almost a month now, protesting the company's plan to shut down American plants. The 12,000 American and 3,000 Canadian union workers have joined together in an effort to protect each other's jobs.

Three years ago, Goodyear was in financial trouble. Everyone joined together in an effort to save the company. Workers took reduced wages, pensions, and health care coverages, and Goodyear closed a plant. Efficiency and productivity increased at every facility to help the company survive.

Tuesday, Goodyear announced plans to close a plant in Tyler, Texas, which will eliminate 1,100 jobs. The city of Tyler offered Goodyear a $12 million incentive package to keep the plant open. Goodyear declined. The Pittsburgh-based United Steel Workers union criticized Goodyear's decision, saying "the company foolishly 'believes it can shrink a company to prosperity'."

Currently, there are no talks planned between the USW and Goodyear. The decision to close the plant may make negotiations more tense. Goodyear is planning to hire temporary workers to replace the 15,000 union employees.

John Edwards has joined the strike!
Join John Edwards at USW Local 2 in Akron at 2pm on Nov. 4th.

Senator Kerry, apologize, shut it, and please let the Democrats win. We don't have time for some nuanced explanation. Democrats are doing great across the country without you on the evening news.

A lot of people don't trust our current election system. Wonder why? Watch the video. It shows some problems with the 2004 election and gives us one way to help make sure this election is fair. Video The Vote 2006

Other ways to help:
**Contact the ACLU to donate time, car, cell phone, and self to investigate rumors of voting problems. (e-mail contact@acluohio.org to volunteer)

**Fill out this survey by the League of Women Voters to tell them what worked/didn't work about the voting process as you experienced it.

**Be a Poll Observer on Election Day.

**I'll put more in the notes as I think of them.

H/T to Psychobilly Democrat for the Video Your Vote inspiration.

New polling from Constituent Dynamics - sorry it is kind of blurry
Visit John Cranley for Congress. Ohio-1 is NW of Cincinnati (map). The fact that seats like this are in play gives me a good feeling about the Democrats taking back the house. Hat Tip: Buckeye State Blog

The Arizona Republic has endorsed Democrat Harry Mitchell over Republican/Criminal JD Hayworth in Arizona's most competitive Congressional race. The right-leaning Republic has endorsed Hayworth for over 10 years, but are now supporting the Democrat Harry Mitchell. The endorsement describes Mitchell as a wonderful candidate and superior leader. Hayworth is described as a bully and a failure (oh, and just for kicks, the endorsement should have made fun of Hayworth for having his stomach stapled.....and no, he has never served in the military, despite his haircut). This endorsement should be the eye-opening East Valley Arizonans need.

Meanwhile, another Arizona House race has gotten very exciting. Democrats were not considered contenders in Arizona's Fightin' 1st, as Republican/Criminal Rick Renzi appeared on pace for victory. His dirty politics seemed to be working on voters of the Northern Arizona. Well, in September he was named one of the "20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" - congrats on that. Then the bombshell hit last week: Renzi is under federal investigation for stealing government money and rigging military contracts. Combine this with a whole slew of other scandals, and the voters may finally revolt and vote for Democrat Ellen Simon.

How is the Republican/Criminal Renzi fighting back? He is accusing her of being in NAMBLA (a whole group of people like Republican Mark Foley and Dennis Hastert). See, she was with the ACLU in the past. The ACLU supported NAMBLA at some point. Despite the fact she had nothing to do with that case, he just threw her in with NAMBLA. Sure. In that case, I want this ad: "Renzi is a Pedophile." He is a Republican. Some Republicans (Foley) are pedophiles. So by the same logic, he is a Pedophile and alcoholic. But I guess Simon is showing dignity - something that Republican criminals do not comprehend.

Side note on Renzi: he has 12 children (all first names start with the letter R). Anyone with 12 kids should be deemed unqualified to be a US Congressman.

Finally, isn't it amazing that I refer to almost all Republicans as "Republican/Criminal" and it is freaking accurate. Ha. I seriously could not imagine sleeping at night if I were a supporter of these beasts.

(left video) Aparently the only person Kevin Coughlin can get to defend his campaign is his wife. Understandable. Enjoy this brand new spot on how Judy Hanna is "misrepresenting the record." This is just an absurd charge given how her little angel Kevin has run his campaign.

This commercial reminds me a lot of the video on the right. Enjoy.

Here is an example of the type of campaign material the Ohio Republican Party is sending straight from the gutter to a mailbox near you on behalf of Republican State Senator Kevin Coughlin.

The Campaign of Republican Kevin Coughlin of Cuyahoga Falls for the State Senate is the most spineless-gutter-smear-garbage-campaign we have seen in Northeast Ohio. The Chief Source already covered his tv ads. Now, the direct mail piece pictured above is being delivered around the district. It is more proof that Republicans like Coughlin will do and say anything to get elected. Kevin figures that people won't realize the kind of devilish direct mail smear campaign he is running until after the election. We hope to change that.

Why resort to these tactics? Well, Kevin Coughlin was not endorsed by the Akron Beacon Journal: "Whether on the campaign trail or in the legislature, Coughlin talks a big game. He knows self-promotion. Voters deserve more from a candidate with a decade of Statehouse experience. [Democrat] Judy Hanna shows the promise to develop into a leader who will get things moving in the right direction." - full article

Chief Source Call To Action: We ask all of our readers to help spread the word about Republican Kevin Coughlin's gutter campaign. Urge everyone you know to vote for Democrat Judy Hanna. Don't let these kind of tactics win.

Internet Fun!!! - Google or Yahoo Search "Kevin Coughlin Flag"

I know there are many more pressing election issues, but I am just too excited to pass this up.
A few weeks ago I watched Barack Obama for an entire hour on Oprah (my girlfriend watches every episode). He was so amazing. His wife was amazing. Everything about him was Presidential. When the show ended I could not stop thinking about how great it is going to be when he is someday President. Oprah asked him about running, but Oprah just let him off the hook without really answering.

So the conventional wisdom is he will wait. He is too young (45-ish). He is too inexperienced (2 years as a US Senator). Has not done anything big in the Senate (umm, this is crap: he has sponsored important education laws, and is working diligently with Richard Lugar (R-IN) on the issue most important to our national security, loose nukes). So people say he should wait - I say screw the conventional wisdom. He would probably face the old, ugly John McCain - I would love to contrast an old loser like McCain with a fresh and awesome figure like Obama.

Well, I think Obama agrees with me. Yesterday on Meet the Press, Obama said "I am still at the point where I have not made a decision to - to pursue higher office. But it is true that I have thought about it over the last several months." That has to mean he is going to run. And when I heard those words today, I could not stop smiling. It would be so amazing to have him as our candidate in 2008. And for anyone that does not share my enthusiasm, just go to Youtube and listen to the man. He is a freaking lock to become the next President!

To highlight election week, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart will be filming in Ohio. After failing to get Bob Taft and Ken Blackwell, the show was desperate. So Monday's guest will be LeBron James (first time I have ever called him that). LeBron must be sick of my criticism, so he is trying to gain my support by going on my favorite show. I appreciate the effort, King.

Otherwise, the NBA season is starting soon. I don't think I am buying the League Pass this year, so I will have less to say about the NBA this year (probably a relief to most). I should be more excited for the season starting, but I realized I have to listen to people claim the Cavs are going to the Championship for another 7 months.....then they will be silenced in the 2nd round.

Mr. Holko,
Your opinion piece in the Akron Beacon Journal betrays your complete misunderstanding of the Darwinist viewpoint. Darwinists don't want to "silence and squelch any attempt to have public school children even consider the possibility of alternatives to evolution." They do, however, want to squelch superstition in a classroom designated for science.

Unlike theists, Darwinists are not burdened with an inflexible dogma that they must defend tooth-and-nail. They are openly critical/skeptical of many of the details of Darwin's work and embrace scientific development, discovery, change and (dare I use the word?) revelation. Their mindset is nothing like the rigid, defensive type of the rank-and-file theist charged with defending a 2000-year-old book as infallible.

You point out that these misguided Darwinists have abandon, amongst other things, a balanced presentation of conflicting viewpoints in public classrooms. I should hope so. The goal is not equal time for opposing view points, the goal is equal time for scientifically feasible view points, that are based on empirical evidence like fossil records, observable behavior in nature, logic, reason and the collective body of work done in fields such as taxonomy, geology, biology and molecular biology.

Do a lot of Americans believe that the Devil put dinosaur bones in the ground to trick us? Sure. Should teachers, while explaining fossils to children in public schools have to give equal time to this 'devil-placement theory'? Should they be obligated to mention it? The answer, of course, is no. In fact I would consider any teacher who does mention it to be violating their mandate as a public educator.

How about giving alchemy equal time in chemistry class? How about giving astrology equal time in astronomy class? If we're going to be all-inclusive with regards to widespread, superstitious viewpoints, then we're obligated to warn children in math class that the addition of 3+10, the subtraction of 20-7 and the division of 52 by 4 all result in an unlucky sum that should be avoided as a matter of personal safety.

You go on to say: "Were the Darwinists present when this world came into being? Do they know from where matter came? Did they observe the formation of such wonders as the Grand Canyon?"

To imply that scientists should/could only comment intelligently on what they've physically observed firsthand is ludicrous. I assume that you apply the same dismissal of non-firsthand, evidence-based deduction to say…any living historian's belief in the existence of Napoleon. Did they really observe Napoleon's invasion of Russia or exile in Saint Helena?

And how can one defend Intelligent Design in the first place? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the crux of ID is that elements in nature are irreducibly complex and therefore could not have arisen randomly from chaos; complex things imply a creator. I have heard many campus preachers point to something like the eye, wing or ear, explain the mind-blowing intricacies and then conclude that anything of such complexity MUST have been created by an intelligent designer.

The problem of course is that any intelligent designer (intelligent enough to create eyes, wings and ears) must be really, really complex himself. Keeping to their exact same logic, he couldn't have arisen randomly from chaos; he, too, must have been created. No doubt by a slightly more intelligent super intelligent designer, who if the logic holds true, must have been created by a mega intelligent designer who was no doubt created by a hyper intelligent designer…

Some skirt this paradox by saying that their complex God has 'been around forever.' This completely undermines their core logic, but OK. What's to say that complex creatures (with ears, wings and eyes) haven't been around forever then? If that were the case we wouldn't even need to speculate about a creator, in fact there would be absolutely no place for a creator. Obviously they don't like this either.

Anyone not blinded by denial can see, after considering ID for 30 seconds, that it does nothing to bring us any closer to the answer to the question, "How did intelligent life arise?" Evolution does though. It explains the development of complexity as a bottom up affair, starting with self-replicating particles in the primordial soup, and shows how natural selection is not at all random, chaotic or planned. I recommend you read a book on it ( The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins is not a bad place to start).

The argument that Darwinists don't know it all is a valid one; in fact it is the only valid argument that cloaked/uncloaked creationists have left. Unfortunately, superstition does not win by default, and our gaps in human understanding are ever shrinking thanks to the work of the scientific community (and despite the interference of the faithful), leaving less and less room for irrational superstition.

Darwinists and all other rational people will continue to squelch creationism in all its forms in the science curriculum of public schools. Sooner or later, like the belief that the sun revolves around the earth, the matter will be put to rest and creationists will have to return to peddling their nonsense in the church, where it will undoubtedly die a quiet death as it becomes simply too embarrassing to confuse fables and myths with historical facts.

Here is a quote from Rush Limbaugh's radio program this past Monday where he discussed Michael J. Fox's ad in support of Democratic Missouri Senate Candidate Claire Mc Caskill (full audio of radio segment):

"Now, this is Michael J. Fox. He's got Parkinson's disease. And in this commercial, he is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He is moving all around and shaking. And it's purely an act. " Rush later backed off his remarks, but added, "Michael J. Fox is allowing his illness to be exploited..."

Watch the ad, listen to Rush, and judge for yourself.

Revere Side Note: Former RHS principal William Holko had an editorial in yesterday's ABJ. Here's a portion: "It is both fascinating and discouraging to observe how completely the Darwinists silence and squelch any attempt to have public school children even consider the possibility of alternatives to evolution." - full article