Pete Ashdown

Sent to support@xmission.com:

[********@msn.com – Tue Nov 19 11:57:28 2013]:
Well there wasn’t a direct email link to Pete Ashdown so I guess I
have to go through support to reach him. I am letting you know that
I am going to start another petition in favor of dropping Xmission
internet services because their founder and owner supports
pornography. It’s people like you Pete that have the power in our
country to make a difference, but you choose to be a victim.
Pornography destroys lives no different than drug abuse. But I’m
sure you’re a big advocate for free crack Mondays at school lunch
(as long as the parent didn’t block their child In participating).
How ridiculous does that sound? Well that’s what you’re doing by
your principles in your internet service you provide. Wake up Pete
you provide service in Utah, I’m not so sure your participation in
a KSL news article was the brightest idea if you are going to take
the stand that you are.

(Name deleted)

Sent from my iPhone

My response:

Googling “Pete Ashdown” has my website as the second link: https://peteashdown.org/ –> email is on the right side –> pashdown@xmission.com

Freedom isn’t only about doing whatever you want, it is about your neighbor doing something you hate. I support individual freedom and privacy. Two ideals that that are not mutually exclusive.

My policy is to not monitor or police my customers as to what they do on the Internet. XMission cooperates with law-enforcement agencies when they serve us a proper warrant signed by a court, but otherwise we do not monitor, sell, or give access to the government or the NSA so they can monitor your activities on the Internet. That applies to all activities.

If it was technically possible to stop pornography from crossing the Internet, I would use that ability to stop trojans, viruses, fraud, and malware first. Unfortunately, it is technically impossible. No amount of petitions or angry accusations will change that. If you don’t want the potential for porn coming into your house, I suggest you throw your computer in the dumpster. If not, you may also want to dump your email provider, msn.com as well, since their policy is not to monitor or control what their subscribers email. In fact, I don’t know of any email provider who has such a policy because it is technically impossible to enforce.

Sincerely,

Pete Ashdown

Wednesday, April 11, at 7:00 PM, The Women’s Democratic Club of Utah will host a debate between Democrats Pete Ashdown and Scott Howell, candidates for Utah’s U.S. Senate seat now occupied by 6-term Senator Orrin Hatch, who is seeking a 7th term. The public is welcome to attend.

Location:
Juan Diego Catholic High School
300 East 11800 South, Draper (accessible via 12300 South and 300 East)
Doors open at 6:00 PM
Debate begins promptly at 7:00 PM and concludes at or before 8:30 PM

Details regarding possible radio broadcast and Internet streaming to be announced.

Pete Ashdown, who has declared his candidacy for the Utah Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, will be filing required paperwork with the Lt. Governor’s office of elections Friday, March 9th at 11:00AM.

Press questions may be directed to the campaign staff email: staff@peteashdown.org

Here is a recording of the RadioWest program that I participated on this morning. I was asked in email to post links to some of the things I talked about.

Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee Membership.
Here are the classes that XMission provides at the Salt Lake City library on filtering and tools we make available to parents.
Here is how to use the filter XMission makes available to anyone using our network, including the free wireless locations, at no extra cost.
Here is a list of locations XMission provides free wireless Internet to.
DansGuardian is the open-source software we use to provide filtering.
URLBlacklist.com maintains the filters we use and contribute to.
According to this site, China is #1 in pornography revenue. Over double what the US revenues are. This for a country that has officially “banned” pornography.

Yet another attempt from the “small-government”, “free-market” Utah legislature to regulate the Internet with SB-236. Ignoring the advice of their own legal council over the ambition of Unspam’s CEO, Mathew Prince, whose past half-baked “Child Email Registry” has also cost Utahns’ tax dollars to defend, the “E-Trademark Registry” passed unanimously.

This attempt to ban competitive forms of keyword advertising is already receiving a goring on the Internet from a variety of sources. How does one gain access to the legislature to write questionable, expensive law to support your business plan and then get repeated access to the pulpit to preach about it? When was Mathew Prince elected to the Utah Senate?

I hope to ask him when we’re both on KCPW’s Midday Metro, Monday at 10:30 AM.

Followup:

Here is the audio of the show.

The last opinion piece I submitted to the Salt Lake Tribune went unanswered for a week before I put it on my blog. I wrote a response to their endorsement of Senator Hatch and it was greeted with the same silence. Realizing time was of the essence, I emailed the editor and called their Reader Advocate. Last night, I received a call from Vern Anderson informing me that the Salt Lake Tribune does not publish opinion pieces from candidates. Not only that, the letter my wife wrote correcting Matt Canham’s mistaken statement that, my “friends and family told (me my campaign) was a waste of (my) time”, would also not be published.

So here once again is an Internet exclusive.

Seniority does not serve America. Seniority serves the interests of senior politicians. While public education is crumbling, our ports and borders are no more secure than they were on 9/11, our veterans ignored, and millions suffer and die without regular health care, I am ashamed that pork takes priority over fundamental need. It is with pleasure that I pledge to destroy the seniority system to return a balance of government interest to the people and help level the playing field for fair elections.

Orrin Hatch claims you should vote for him because of seniority. He states the Democrats are weak on security, that he is fiscally conservative and committed to small government. That in spite of obstructionist Democrats, only he displays the leadership which can serve Utah.

Where is Senator Hatch’s concern for national security when he displayed more self-promotion than national protection by spilling the details of secret intelligence monitoring of Osama bin Laden within hours of the attacks on September 11th? I do not believe the Republican nor the Democratic party has a desire for weak security, but Senator Hatch has demonstrated he is a security risk all on his own.

Where is the fiscal responsibility when Senator Hatch does not show restraint in securing a lavish $100 million for an expansion to the Utah Federal Courthouse? This is a project which will literally move a building across a street, raze a popular nightspot “Port o’ Call”, and replace a characteristic portion of Salt Lake’s downtown with an enormous “Justice Cube” eyesore. Expensive, out of place, and useless, this will be an appropriate tribute to pork and the Senator who secured it.

Where is Senator Hatch’s leadership when he begs Utahns to petition the Bureau of Land Management to keep nuclear waste out of Utah? True leadership does not require thousands of citizen letters to communicate the obvious. Last I checked, Congress was in charge of the BLM and not the other way around.

I do not require 30 years to get traction in Washington. In Orrin Hatch’s first term, this country grappled with many of the same problems we confront today. Energy prices, Mid-East turmoil, terrorism, child predators, and education were all primary concerns in 1976 as they are today in 2006. Why has Hatch’s mantra of “18 years is long enough” been extended to a need for 36? Who, but those elected representatives who have legislated through the past five administrations, should take responsibility for today’s crushing debt, imbalanced budgets and global instability?

According to Senator Hatch, the Democrats are to shoulder all of the blame for his inability to resolve America’s problems. I reach out to all Utahns, regardless of their political beliefs, and it is in the spirit of bringing our country together, that I set about to solve this nation’s gravest problems. Blaming his ineffectiveness on Democratic obstructionism does nothing except highlight his continual demonization of anyone who does not hold the same philosophy as he.

For every failure, there is opportunity. I have a plan for a better America and I have been executing it throughout this campaign. I have demonstrated how I will hold myself and the government accountable to the people. I have displayed the ability and the commitment to secure consensus and advice. I am committed to fiscal conservatism, limited government, and constitutional respect.

I have a vision for the future of our nation. Senator Hatch questioned me on the need for rapid rail throughout rural America in a recent debate. According to his opinion, it is too hard and too expensive. Thank goodness this man wasn’t in charge when we built the intercontinental railway, dammed the Colorado river, split the atom, established highways, and went to the moon. America desperately needs new vision and the leadership to execute it.

Barack Obama has been heralded as a new star in the Senate and is already under consideration for the presidency. All this in his FIRST term. Utah has an opportunity with this race that no amount of seniority can justify passing up. I pray the electorate will give careful consideration to what I stand for, my character, and what I have already done for Utah.

This morning I fell through the looking-glass when I heard Senator Hatch being interviewed on KCPW. It is a strange world, where you can accuse the other side of partisanship and obstructionism while claiming you have never done it yourself.

Lara Jones, the interviewer, asked Senator Hatch if he was going to debate his opponent. I was looking forward to his answer because in spite of requesting a debate via registered letter, I’ve heard nothing in response. The closest thing to an answer is Hatch campaign manager Dave Hansen fumbling the ball in response to Ethan Millard at SLCSpin. Even though Senator Hatch has most of August off, campaign season apparently hasn’t started yet.

Senator Hatch’s answer? “I’ve never refused a debate in my life.” I suppose that is accurate. He didn’t refuse my request for debate, he ignored it. I gave him opportunity to debate anywhere, anytime, and this is written off in the same breath as, “We’re not going to do it to the ridiculous extreme.”

The seven Lincoln/Douglas debates started in August and were held all over the state of Illinois. I ask Senator Hatch to merely match this effort. Instead of waiting until the last week of October to have one or two, let us allow the public to ask us questions in several open debate forums. Note that Democrat Jim Matheson has already agreed to six debates with his Republican challenger. The Utah State Fair falls in Dave Hansen’s “campaign season”, I see little reason not to have the first debate then.

In any case, Senator Hatch and myself are not the only candidates in this race. The other candidates have graciously agreed to debate this Saturday, August 12th, at 10:30 AM in the Salt Lake City Public Library. I hope to see you there.

According to insiders at Mark Warner’s “Map Changers” PAC, we lost out of getting to the second round by a few votes. Those votes could have been yours if you didn’t participate.

Right now my campaign is at a financial crossroads between taking money from Political Action Committees with clear agendas and staying with individual contributions. Ideally, I would like to stay with individual contributions, but there are financial obligations which will not be met if I keep that rule. Many of you have already contributed, some of you have donated multiple times and I thank you for your belief in me and winning this race.

Another candidate contest has come forward and it presents an even higher potential than Mark Warner’s. This time it is sponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer and has the potential to raise $30,000 – $80,000 in individual contributions for the winner. This would help me stay on track without approaching Political Action Committees for more money.

Please vote here and continue to track my progress over the next two weeks. I need you to encourage your friends who support this campaign to do the same thing:

Vote Here

I continue to need volunteers for events around the state. Please check the campaign calendar and email david@peteashdown.org or justin@peteashdown.org if you can help march, organize, or canvas.

Recent media:
Salt Lake Tribune
Seattle Times
PBS

Steven Peterson of Washington County, Utah is my volunteer of the week. Steve took my plea to spread the word to heart and got the BBC interested in my campaign. They did a short interview today and will follow-up with a longer interview on Monday. This is a great example of what you can do to help get the word out. I need you to talk to press, big and small about this campaign and get them interested in how I am recrafting American politics. Read Steven’s account of getting the word to the BBC and how you can listen to the program on Monday:

Obiter Dicta by Steve

There is another great opportunity in which you can help get the word out. Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner has an organization that is running a contest to find Democratic Candidates with fresh ideas. They are currently running a nomination and voting process to find these candidates. Aside from the fund-raising potential this contest has, it is a great way to get the word out about my campaign. Note that participation does require registration and they will most likely use your information for future political ventures.

Map Changers

Aside from another Blue Eagle breakdown coming back from Saint George, this has been another fantastic week for the campaign. Be sure to read the coverage in the The Spectrum of my conference in Washington County:

Ashdown Senate Campaign Rolls Into Town

The Utah Democratic Convention on May 13th was an exhilarating experience. It was humbling to receive such a warm response to my nomination speech and listen to so many people expressing their support. For those of you who were unable to attend the convention, I have put up audio of the nominations and my speech here. In addition, there is television convention coverage from KSL here and here, along with KUTV’s coverage here.

My convention speech was accompanied by a slide-show presentation. I will work towards matching the audio with that presentation and making it available on the website.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who took time out of their Saturday to help at the convention. I could not have done it without you.

In addition to the convention, I did a “Honk & Wave” in response to bad energy policy on the 9th. This event was covered by KSL.

Quality News Network did an interview as part of their extensive 2006 candidate interview series. Be sure to take some time to listen to Tony Seton’s interview of me and other candidates.

The campaign has over 1,000 volunteers signed up and we are working hard to build a database of all of them. I have installed a copy of CivicSpace to help with that. Right now, I need admins who are versed in using Drupal to make this installation of CivicSpace work for the campaign. I also continue to receive some criticism over the usability of the campaign website. If anyone feels like they can do a better job of organizing, design, and keeping things up to date, I am more than willing to hand over the reins. Please email me your design ideas and your past work.

We have distributed over 1,500 signs already! Send in your photos of yard signs and we’ll put them on the website for everyone to see. If you don’t have a sign yet, email our newest intern, Wade Finlinson and we’ll make sure you get one.