Dear Richardson supporter,

Out here in Iowa it feels like we're in the middle of a whirlwind -- there is so much going on, and so much to do in the 8 days leading up to the Iowa caucuses.

And the Governor wants to tell you about it personally. Can you join the Governor, me and Amanda tonight on a conference call?

The call begins at 9:20 PM ET / 7:20 PM MT.

Please RSVP if you can join.

At this point we're trying to reach out to as many voters as possible, and this is something we're hoping you can help out with. Just this morning hundreds of Richardson Roadrunners left New Mexico to join us in Iowa in this last sprint to the caucuses. I understand you all can't personally make it to Iowa this week, but I hope you'll take a few moments to help the Governor get his message out from wherever you are by joining our voter contact team.

The New York Times is rightly concerned by Democrats talk about trade protectionism. From their editorial - Trade and Prosperity -

Democrats have been most tempted by the protectionism. John Edwards likes to talk about how trade agreements like Nafta “have hurt workers and families while helping corporate insiders.” Senator Hillary Clinton has suggested that the economic theories underpinning the cause for free trade no longer hold, and has said she would review all of the United States’ trade agreements.

It is very easy to blame trade on economic hardships, but the realities are much more complicated. Since NAFTA has been passed, American unemployment has averaged 2% lower than in the decade before it. Some industries have been extremely hard hit, like textile manufacturing. However, others have benefitted, like auto manufacturing.

I have just received word that Eric has boarded a plane in Nicaragua bound for an undisclosed location.

I cannot thank everyone enough for the phone calls and emails sent to the White House on behalf of Eric.

More news to follow as I receive it.

Eric

Dear President Bush,

I'm not sure if you are aware of the case of Eric Volz. Eric Volz is an American citizen and political prisoner in Nicaragua. Last year, Eric's ex-girlfriend was brutally murdered while Eric was in Managua, two hours away from the scene of the crime. Ten witnesses testified on behalf of Eric and his innocence.

Unfortunately, the Nicaraguan media decided to make this a political issue by proclaiming Eric's guilt simply because he is an American. The Nicaraguan media has been successful in demonizing Eric to the point of a lynch mob forming to attack Eric and a U.S. Embassy official before his trial last year. The Nicaraguan judge was obviously intimidated to the point of throwing out all of Eric's witness testimonies and finding Eric guilty. Eric was sentenced to 30 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit, a crime he couldn't have committed.

Over the past year, I along with Eric's family and friends have looked for assistance from the U.S. government in freeing Eric. We have had dozens of conversations with Congressmen and State Department officials. All of the government officials we have heard from believe Eric to be innocent. Yet the American government hasn't so much as lifted a finger to help a citizen being held as a political prisoner in a foreign company.

This week in Nicaragua, an appeals court overturned Eric's conviction and acquitted him. Yet Eric remains in jail.

Once again the Nicaraguan media has inflamed the populace by asking that people "take justice into their own hands". Nicaraguan officials have acquiesced by appealing the acqquital, during which time they intend on jailing Eric indefinitely until the Supreme Court can hear this case.

As an American citizen, I am embarrassed that the U.S. government has done nothing to right this injustice. When Iran took American hostages in 1979 for political reasons, the U.S. government worked hard to release them. The Iran Hostage Crisis was obviously complicated by the volatile situation in the Middle East at the time.

There are no such complicating factors in Nicaragua.

On Independence Day 2006, you said "this country remains a beacon of hope for all who dream of liberty". Quite frankly, this statement rings hollow in light of Eric's situation. A more cynical person might go so far as to say that had Eric been imprisoned in a Middle Eastern country, that the U.S. government would have moved heaven and earth to free him.

I still believe that this country is indeed a beacon of hope for those who dream of liberty and freedom of oppression. President Bush, I ask that you move heaven and earth to free Eric Volz.

Respectfully yours,

Will Hinton
willhinton@gmail.com
404-210-1821

Full details of Eric's situation can be found on my blog at http://www.goodwillhinton.com/topics/eric_volz

For those that would like to sign on in support of this letter, please use the comments to leave your name.

Also, please forward this letter on to anyone you know that could get this to the White House.

Call the White House (202-456-1414). Light up the switchboard. Ask what they are doing to FREE ERIC.

Take action today, before it's too late!

We are asking everyone to contact (a phone call would be more immediate, but follow up with an email if you can!) their elected representatives in the next few hours, to ask them to pressure the Nicaraguan government to carry out Eric's legal release from prison. The reason this is so urgent is that Nicaraguan government offices leave tomorrow for the lengthy holidays... we need the US government to act IMMEDIATELY to compel the Nicaraguan government to honor their own law and release Eric Volz!

Call your representative with the question "What is being done to expedite Eric Volz's release from Nicaraguan custody?"

BE INFORMED!

READ THIS: Associated Press story: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGlrnMklKMa1DSqmiTxcJLaMvRhwD8TKU66O1

TAKE ACTION: (Will Hinton: I have modified this a bit. Call the White House. Flood the switchboard. Many in Congress and in the State Dept. know about Eric. The White House is the key to making something happen)
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ or main switchboard: 202-456-1414

Details are changing almost hourly, but here's what we know as of 10:30am Central, December 20th:

Judge Ivette Toruno, who initially convicted Eric for Doris' murder, is required to sign his release papers, but she has created various excuses to avoid doing so.

In the meantime, the original prosecutor of Eric's case (Isolda Ibarra) is attempting to overturn the Appellate Court ruling, and is filing an appeal to the Nicaraguan Supreme Court. She is asking that Eric be held in custody (illegally) until the Supreme Court rules. Typically, Supreme Court cases take years to process.

Nicaraguan law says that the order of the Appellate Court to free Eric should not be overridden by the filing of a Supreme Court appeal, but that Nicaraguan law is being ignored.

If Eric is held, he will certainly be moved back to the penitentiary, and may not be afforded even the minimal protection he had previously - he will be in the gravest of danger. Eric has kidney stones, and is still recovering from intestinal issues and severe asthma, which is why he has been in the prison hospital for more than 2 months now.

This morning, Penitentiary Director Molina dispatched a truck to take Eric back to the prison. This forced his visit with his mother Maggie to be cut short, due to security concerns.

Thanks to the following blogs for linking to this story:
Instapundit
The Agitator
Looking Closer
Common Grounds Online
Conservative Grapevine
American Tradition
white knuckled wanderer
Philosomatic

CNBC reports that Congress Gives AMT Relief For 20 Million Taxpayers because the AMT (alternative minimum tax) was designed for the super, super rich ( less than 1% of all taxpayers), but wasn't indexed to cost of living and thus about to hit middle class taxpayers this year.

In 1967, a small region of south-eastern Nigeria broke away and declared its independence. That region was known as Biafra and it was made up of an ethnic group different than the one in power in Lagos. Nigeria, like many African nations, was a false construct from their European colonial overlords. This led to much internal political conflict and

The discovery of large quantities of oil in the delta of the Niger river, a sprawling network of rivers and swamps that was the southern-most tip of the Country hedged between the South eastern and South western regions, had led to the prospect of the southeast annexing this region to become self-sufficient and increasingly prosperous. However, the exclusion of easterners from power made many fear that the oil revenues would be used to benefit areas in the north and west rather than their own...This further fuelled Igbo [ethnic tribe of Biafra] fears that the northerners had plans to strip eastern oil to benefit the North.

At 1 o'clock this afternoon, the Des Moines Register is hosting the final Democratic debate prior to Iowa (thank the Lord!) and most media accounts have the Clinton campaign in disarray as their strategy has fallen apart.

Let's review the Clinton strategy. Twin pillars. The first is that she is unshakable and the second is that her nomination is inevitable.

I'm speechless. Though I was hoping he would say "All Your Bases Belong To Us"!!!

The high school that I went to in Atlanta was very diverse racially. In fact in 8th and 9th grade I was the only white guy at my lunch table. I didn't think much of it; they were just the guys I hung out with.

I do recall one episode in particular in high school that heightened my awareness of race. There was a black guy one grade ahead of me that I knew fairly well. We had a few classes together. Unfortunately this guy often was the butt of jokes from other black guys at our school who said that he "acted white". By this guy's senior year he was sick of the taunts. So at the start of the school year, he showed up one day at school with a gun. Not to shoot anyone. But because in his mind (and based on those who had taunted him for "acting white") "acting black" meant acting like a thug.

I am reminded of this sad story today as I watch this video of former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young talking about Barack Obama. When asked about Obama running for president this year, Young commented that he wanted Obama to be president but not until 2016. In contrast, he was vocal about his support for Hillary Clinton because of Bill Clinton who "is every bit as black as Barack." He also mentioned that Bill Clinton has "probably gone with more black women than Barack".

It appears to me that Andrew Young is making the case that being black is mostly defined by one's actions. I'm not trying to bash Bill Clinton here, but what exactly does Clinton do to "act black"? This whole concept is highly insulting and someone like Andrew Young, whom I am long respected for his Civil Rights work, should know better.

Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best use of stats you've ever seen (video - 20 minutes, but worth it)

I'm thinking of trying to figure out how to use this in my Geography classroom. What do you think of the technology? What do you think of the data and his conclusions?