As I write in late August, many things in this election season remain unclear, both momentous and mundane.  For starters, the presidential contest is a statistical dead heat.  Despite the best efforts of the "non-affiliated" 527 arms of the campaigns, who make a virtue of character assassination (though the LA Times, in a moment of lucidity, did note that while groups like MoveOn were broadcasting personal attacks against the president, at least they weren't presenting patently false charges, like the lies put forth by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth about Kerry's war record), the red states are still red, the blue states are still blue, and the swing states are still swinging.  And while I hope that local Trends prognosticator Gerry Celente is right in predicting a Kerry landslide, my crystal ball is still cloudy.

Another question is what will happen at the Republican Convention.  And I don't mean what will happen inside Madison Square Garden (unless Sparrow, who is seeking the Republican nomination -  no joke - can pull a few hundred delegates out of his beard), but rather what will happen in the streets.  Will uppity protestors (referred to in some circles as citizens demanding their constitutional right of assembly) storm the Great Lawn in Central Park, possibly causing a landscaping holocaust?  Will the mainstream media provide the same lame level of non-coverage of the protests that they bungled in the days before the Iraq War?  Will the NYPD launch a wildcat strike, or will they hold off for a few weeks for the chance to bust a few heads?

A final unknown concerns the security and competence of the latest trend in voting technology, direct recording electronic voting systems (DREs).  Since the chad-ridden Floridian fiasco in 2000, many local municipalities have purchased new, expensive electronic voting machines in order to comply with the standards of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.  In the rush to bring this technology to market in time for the 2004 election, a number of problems have emerged, not the least of which being the ability of hackers to access the system and modify voting results.  In the first of a two-part series, Donna Zukowski investigates the technology, the machines, the people who sell and buy DREs, and the web of political and economic influence surrounding them in "The Nightmare of E-Voting: Will Your Vote Count in 2004?"

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Chronogram has some new wrinkles this month, manifesting its increasing maturity:

FRAME BY FRAME
We're debuting a new film column by Jeff Economy.  Jeff wrote about music and film for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Reader before moving to the Hudson Valley, and we're ecstatic to have him reviewing movies for us.  This month, he tackles two films - Lars von Trier's piece of cinematic sadism The Five Obstructions, and local filmmaker Deborah Kampmeier's Virgin, about a young woman who believes she's had an immaculate conception.

POETICA
Since taking over as poetry editor a little over a year ago, Phillip Levine has staged a quiet evolution on the Poetica page.  Phillip has picked up where former poetry editors left off, maintaining our open submissions policy while increasing the quality and diversity of poetry featured in Poetica.  (Phillip also hosted a knock-'em-dead reading by Poetica contributors Will Nixon, Janice King, Celia Bland, and Philip Pardi at Ariel Booksellers a few months ago.  Keep your eyes peeled for more Poetica readings!)

In response to Phillip's continued inspired direction and the increasing volume of quality submissions, starting with this issue we will be printing two pages of Poetica each month.

INNER VISION
An addition to our Whole Living Guide, Inner Vision is an unabashedly spiritual take, underlining our commitment to art, culture, and spirit.  This month, Sharon Nichols previews a weekend retreat with Toltec shaman and author of The Four Agreements don Miguel Ruiz at Omega Institute.

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Also, on a valedictory note, this will be the final month of Sparrow's column Quarter to Three.  Sparrow's freewheeling blend of poetry, metaphysical humor, personal correspondence, hearsay, and belles-lettres has been a Chronogram fixture since 1999, serving as a source of laughs, insight, and sometimes controversy.  Before I am inundated with hate mail from Sparrow's fans, however, I will tell you that Sparrow will continue to contribute to Chronogram as a cultural correspondent, essayist, and humorist.