Barackface

Monday, October 23, 2006

DFA Event: A Forum On Voting Machines

I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life.
- George Burns
The least of learning is done in the classrooms.
- Thomas Merton
Oh, I don't blame Congress. If I had $600 billion at my disposal, I'd be irresponsible, too.
- Lichty and Wagner

I have an email in my inbox, and I RSVPd. I don't know a whole lot about this issue, but I do know this is how they stole the last two presidential elections. It was something to do with voting machines.

On The Web

Diebold Voting Machine Owner Committed To Give Votes To Bush in 2004 The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." ..... O'Dell attended a strategy pow-wow with wealthy Bush benefactors - known as Rangers and Pioneers - at the president's Crawford, Texas, ranch earlier this month. The next week, he penned invitations to a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser to benefit the Ohio Republican Party's federal campaign fund - partially benefiting Bush - at his mansion in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
The History of Voting Machines - History of the Voting System ...
Voting Machines
Voting machine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
VerifiedVoting.org : Index
Schneier on Security: The Problem with Electronic Voting Machines
Voting machine fails inspection | CNET News.com security experts--three from Johns Hopkins University and a colleague from Rice University--performed an audit and found numerous security holes. ..... There is no way to verify that a vote was correctly recorded and no permanent record is kept. ...... In the 2002 election, 19.6 percent of the electorate could have cast an electronic vote ...... The researchers were only able to see the source code to Diebold's system because the company accidentally left the file on an Internet server in January. ...... "You can't run voting machines on Windows." ...... By bringing a stack of valid cards to the voting booth, a person could cast several votes. ...... the secrecy that surrounds the creation and certification of electronic voting machines almost ensures that the systems will not be programmed securely.

The last such event I went to was the Iraq movie. (Iraq Movie, Liberally, But Not Drinking, Movie: Iraq For Sale) I feel like I owe it to my favorite Deaniac, Barack Obama, to show up for another DFA event. This can be my way to celebrate the interest he has expressed for the first time for a possible run for president. (Switching To Obama) I was also on TV recently. That also has to be celebrated. (March And Rally For Full Immigrant Rights)

Join Democracy for NYC and Community Free Democrats for an important public forum on Wednesday, October 25th. Learn what voting machines may soon be chosen for you, and what you can do to encourage selection of the most secure, reliable and cost-effective voting machines for NYC.

When: October 25th, 7pm-9pm

Where: New York Society for Ethical Culture on 64th Street at Central Park West in Manhattan.

Panelists: Adam Cohen, Member of the NY Times Editorial Board, will moderate a panel which will include Douglas Kellner, Co-Chair, New York State Board of Elections; David Kogelman, HAVA Committee Chair, NY Democratic Lawyers Council; Bo Lipari, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Verified Voting; Mark Crispin Miller, New York University Professor and Author; Jerrold Nadler, Member, U.S. Congress; and John Ravitz, Executive Director, New York City Board of Elections.

Sponsoring Groups: The forum is sponsored by the New York Society for Ethical Culture and the Sierra Club—NYC Group. Co-sponsors include: Ansonia Independent Democrats, Broadway Democrats, Park River Independent Democrats, Three Parks Independent Democrats, Vincent F. Albano Republican Club.

For information, call 212-252-4918 or visit this link:
http://www.dfnyc.org/cms/node/87729

Event Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Event Time: 7:00 PM

Venue Name: NY Society for Ethical Culture
Address: 2 West 64th Street
City: New York
State: NY
Zip Code: 10023
Handicapped Accessible: Yes

Democracy For NYC
Welcome to Community Free Democrats - Serving the Upper West Side
Home: New York Society for Ethical Culture
"Central Park West" (1995)
Manhattan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Manhattan (1979)
The New York Times Editorial Board - New York Times
Douglas A
The New York Democratic Lawyers Council
New Yorkers for Verified Voting - Bo Lipari
Bo Lipari's Weblog
Mark Crispin Miller
Democracy Now! | Mark Crispin Miller: “Kerry Told Me He Now Thinks.. “[Kerry] told me he now thinks the election was stolen. He says he doesn't believe he is the person that can be out in front because of the sour grapes question. But he said he believes it was stolen. He says he argues with his democratic colleagues on the hill. He said he had a fight with Christopher Dodd because he said there's questions about the voting machines and Dodd was angry.”
Jerrold Nadler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John A Ravitz News - The New York Times
sierra club new york city group home page
THE ANSONIA INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS; - The Democratic Club of the ...
Broadway Democrats | Democracy For NYC
Park River Independent Democrats | Democracy For NYC
Three Parks Independent Democrats
Welcome to the Vince Albano 74th AD Republican Club's Web Site

This is an important topic, no doubt. And if the past is any clue, we are going to have issues also in these elections a few weeks away which look so good to our side. The Dems will take over both chambers.

In The News

Obama: Somber Americans ready for change KVOA.com
Obama's book tour fuels White House speculation Austin American-Statesman
Obama Obama Obama CBS News
Worried Bush retires Iraq slogan The Australian
Bush Drops `Stay the Course' for Flexibility on Iraq (Update1) Bloomberg
Poll Finds "Time Is Running Short" For Republicans In Congress All Headline News
Snow says no to Iraq 'ultimatums' United Press International
White House Looks for Better Ways Forward in Iraq New York Times
US denies setting timetable for Iraq to disarm militia Xinhua
Voter intimidation controversy grows in southern California Houston Chronicle
Angelides Calls Election Letter Act Of Intimidation NBC4.TV
OC candidate defends letter scaring immigrants Los Angeles Times
And the winner of the election is... Diebold Houston Chronicle
E-Voting Bites CBS News
Diebold Election Systems at the center of security breach Earthtimes.org
Another source code leak for Diebold Ars Technica, MA
States Create Processes to Ease E-voting Concerns Computerworld, MA
Diebold Source Code Disks Mailed to Maryland Democrat
Electronic Voting Machines Could Skew Elections ABC News
Diebold source code leaked againComputerworld, MA
Diebold Code Spill Hikes Electronic Voting Security Concerns TechNewsWorld, CA
Concerns raised over security of electronic voting machines abc13.com, TX
Maryland Suffers E-Voting Security Breach
NewsFactor Network, CA
Maryland gets crabby over voting tech GCN.com, DC
How Accurate Are Electronic Voting Machines? WMDT, MD
E-Voting Diebold Machine Code Mailed To Former Maryland Legislator
Spotlighting News
Diebold Election Systems at the center of security breach
Ex-delegate gets Diebold voting code in mail engadget, CA
Link: Diebold Voting Software Source In Wild Again Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand
Elections Said to be Safe After Possible Theft WTOP, D.C
Mailed disks raise voting machine fears The Kindred Times, Utah
Diebold declares machines secure Baltimore Sun, United States
Diebold Voting Machines Stir Up More Controversy WJZ, MD
Diebold Source Code Leaked Again PC World
Diebold Voting Machine Woes 2.0
Diebold source code leaked againWebwereld, Netherlands
Recent Electoral Politics ZNet, MA
FBI Investigating Source of Disks; Diebold Says Elections Safe WJLA, DC
Lieberman opens wide lead on Lamont in Conn. race Reuters
Why is Joe Lieberman Still Ahead? - Oct 23 Beyond Chron
Final debate for Senate candidates tonight WTNH
ElBaradei warns of sanctions on N.Korea, Iran

More ....

Electronic Voting, Online Banking

Electronic voting is actually a super idea. That is the future of voting. It is step one. Step two would be online voting. No need to stay in line. On election day you log in and you vote. Nothing wrong with the technology.

It is the slimey politics, the obfuscation, the white supremacist urge to disenfranchise the black community, the handshake between big money and Republican power, and the sheer incompetence of those who can not get right what is essentially about 100 lines of software code.
So it's not the technology, it is the politics that is nifty.

If you trust software with your money, I think that software can be made good enough that you can trust it with your vote. But there are forces at work that are doing their very best to make sure that ain't so.

For the short term, the idea of paper trails is a good one. Give people in print what they did on the screen. But long term it is the software itself that has to be made secure and trustworthy.

The software way, you can have instant counts. As soon the polls close, the results are out.

Switching To Obama

Three Pillars, Draft 2
March And Rally For Full Immigrant Rights

If Obama is running and Hillary is running, for the primary season I would throw my hat Obama's way. That is no tough choice at all. Obama can win. And I relate to his background.

..... women make only 76 cents for every dollar that a man makes. .... The average African-American woman earns 66 cents for every dollar that a white male earns and Latino women only 55 cents per dollar earned by white men........ The national average for white females is about 74 cents to every dollar a white male earns. Black women's earnings were 85 percent of black men's and Hispanic women made 87 percent as much as Hispanic men (US Department of Labor, Aug. 2001) ........ a white female worker earns 77 cents for every dollar a white male worker earns. A Hispanic woman with the same job earns 58 cents to every dollar earned by a white man, while an African American woman receives 70 cents for every dollar earned by a white male worker...This wage gap is not a function of low-paying jobs; it is found consistently through all levels and professions ..... African Americans and Hispanics, on average, still earn 65 cents for every dollar a white male earns for comparable work

The American caste system is as follows: white male, white female, minority male, minority female. And Obama grew up partly in Indonesia. His father was from Kenya. I relate directly to that "Third World" connection; make it Global South with respect. Go Obama.

Obama In Africa
2008 Countdown: Hillary-Obama
Obama Votes Nay
Obama, Ethics Reform, And White Dems

First black US president? Obama the man to watch The Age
African son Obama for US presidency? AND
Obama weighs run in '08 San Jose Mercury News Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., opened the door to a 2008 presidential campaign Sunday, saying he has begun to weigh a possible candidacy and will make a decision after the November elections. ..... "After November 7th, I'll sit down and consider it, and if at some point, I change my mind, I will make a public announcement and everybody will be able to go at me.'' ...... had said he planned to serve out the full six years of his Senate term, which would have ruled out a presidential or vice presidential campaign in 2008. ....... New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is considered the early front-runner for the Democratic nomination, should she decide to run, but some Democratic strategists said Sunday that Obama immediately would become one of her principal challengers, if he decides to run. ...... "If he runs and Mrs. Clinton runs, I don't think there's a lot of room for anyone else'' ...... having served just two years in the Senate and seven in the Illinois state Senate, Obama has a thin résumé upon which to build a presidential candidacy ...... "I'm not sure anybody is ready to be president before they're president,'' he told moderator Tim Russert. "You know, ultimately, I trust the judgment of the American people that in any election they sort it through. We have a long and a rigorous process and, you know, should I decide to run, if I ever did decide to run, I'm confident that I'd be run through the paces pretty good.'' ....... Obama advisers said Sunday there has been little formal analysis done in preparation for a possible campaign and agreed they will now accelerate that work. But they said they are confident Obama could raise the money to run and noted that he already has many offers from people to work in a campaign.
Obama Answers - Sort Of RealClearPolitics Blog
CBS: Dems Opting for Obama Because They 'Don't Believe Hillary Can ... NewsBusters
Rising star considers running for president Times Online said yesterday that he was considering a 2008 presidential run, a move that would present Hillary Clinton with a formidable rival for the party’s nomination. ..... young, black, intelligent, telegenic and eloquent ...... Obama said that he could no longer stand by a vow to serve a full six-year term in Congress. ..... His charisma has brought comparisons to a young John F. Kennedy. Many in the party, who fear that Hillary Clinton would be too polarising a candidate, have been urging him to run. ...... In a survey that was conducted in March by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, Mr Obama came second only to Rudolph Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, as the most popular person in American politics.
The Most Dangerous Man In America GOPUSA If I were a liberal Democrat tasked with finding the ideal candidate to take back the White House in two years, I would try to find an extremely intelligent, well-educated individual with a fresh face, an articulate voice, a charming manner and no political baggage. ....... This person would be male and a member of a minority group. He would not yet be a household name, but would be in a position to become one. He would be in his forties, not unlike John F. Kennedy in 1960 or Bill Clinton in 1992. He would come across as the only candidate talking about new approaches to old problems. He would have the ability to get lots of press without appearing to crave the spotlight. ...... Barack Obama is a savvy, charismatic, articulate liberal who could very well be the Democratic Party's best hope for recapturing the White House. His background is intriguingly diverse. ...... His impressive performance as a speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention made the party's presidential nominee, John Kerry, seem dull by contrast. ...... Obama's flawless performance on Meet the Press (his performances are almost always flawless), his appearance will no doubt be lauded as "refreshingly frank," and as "not politics as usual." ...... Obama said that a great president causes the people to think differently about their country. ..... Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. ...... Barack Obama is the anti-Hillary Hillary. His positions on the issues of the day are every bit as radical and leftist as hers. The difference lies in his ability to sell it. In an age when political baggage can kill a candidate's chances of success on the national stage, Hillary Clinton is dragging around overloaded steamer trunks filled with negative poll numbers. Obama is encumbered by no such weight.
Obama May Run for President WTMJ-TV
OBAMA MULLS PREZ RUN New York Post
Obama (may be) Running for (Vice) President Huffington Post, NY
Barack Obama: The Most Dangerous Man in America Human Events, DC Obama has said he believes that health care is a basic human right. (Funny, I must have missed that one in the Bill of Rights.) ..... As an Illinois state senator in 1998, Obama voted to give welfare and Medicaid to immigrants. ..... he is also liberal enough to be the most dangerous man in America if he is elected.

"You Are Not President, Yet!"

My favorite part of Hillary's debate with her challenger on Friday was when the guy said, "You are not president, yet!"

Thoughts on Hillary's Debate New York Observer, NY
Challenger denies Clinton looks comments Globe and Mail, Canada Republican challenger John Spencer told a reporter that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton wasn't very attractive when she was younger and may have had a lot of work done to improve her looks ...... “You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew,” Mr. Spencer was quoted by the Daily News as saying about Clinton in her younger days. “I don't know why Bill married her.”
Did Hillary's Foe Say She Was Ugly? CBS News
Hillary Clinton: 'I love my life' WWAY NewsChannel 3
A Secret Divide in a GOP Stronghold New York Times a groundswell of Republican support for the attorney general’s bid to become governor. ..... Some believe Mr. Spitzer will tackle fraud and waste in Albany with the same zeal that he pursued white-collar crime on Wall Street. ..... He said Mr. Spitzer may have gone after fraud on Wall Street, but he has ignored fraud in state government. “He’s done nothing in the public sector,” said Mr. Meade, who is not registered with any party. “Do we have corruption in the public sector? It’s ungodly.” ....... Indeed, in Broome County, people’s views on the election are colored by a kind of cynicism, apathy and angst. This is a place known not so much for what it is, but what it used to be. ...... grows so close to the men whose hair he trims for $10 that, when they die, he attends their funerals ..... One man, when asked the last time he voted, replied simply, “Ike.”
Obama vs. Clinton vs. Kerry in '08? ABC News "I can't make a decision now" about running for president, she said. "I have made no decision. But if that concerns any voter, they should factor that into the vote they make." ..... the first since 1928 in which there will be no sitting president or vice president running. ..... his face gracing the cover of magazines ranging from Time to Men's Vogue ..... Kerry is thinking about another run, and told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" that he'd welcome the competition from Obama. ..... Obama is a newcomer whose publicity has been virtually all positive ...... "A lot of other candidates are going to be pushed to the side in media attention, money and political support if you have these two titans running for president." ..... "John McCain is a formidable front-runner, but there are a lot of doubts about him within the Republican Party," said Halperin. "Mitt Romney has been the most aggressive and the most successful in playing off some of those doubts and positioning himself as McCain's chief challenger."
John McCain, Hillary Clinton campaign in New Jersey for US Senate ... International Herald Tribune, France
NJ Senate Race Draws Political Stars Washington Post looked like a potential preview of the 2008 presidential campaign. ..... the Garden State contest would determine which party controls the Senate ...... McCain said Sunday he would make a decision early next year. .... 48 percent of likely voters favoring Menendez with 39 percent favoring Kean ..... Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez
Barack Obama: The Visible Man American Thinker, AZ
Obama consideration of presidential bid generating DC buzz WQAD

A Ticket For Two

One of them is going to be president, another vice president. Both have to be on the ticket regardless.

Someone who runs for president is a good vice presidential candidate.

McCain Is Right

New Jersey shows the Dems will take over the Senate. Rock and roll.

Visitors

18 October