How I feel About Republican Leadership

A bunch of gits who are sure never willing to die for this great country.

The Top 10 Conservative Idiots (No. 228)

Conventional wisdom would have you believe that Republicans are real tough guys; great hulking giants of men who laugh in the face of danger and fart in the living room of Death as they boldly swing their nuts across the land. Conventional wisdom is, sadly, wrong. The truth is that if you show a Republican a picture of an Arab he'll cling to the pantlegs of Big Daddy Bush wailing, "Please! Tap my phone lines! Take away my rights! Rip up the Constitution! Anything to protect me from the infinitesimally small chance of being killed by that scary bearded man! Oh no, I think I did a dirty bomb in my pants."

You know, it's not like we're getting bombed every day, or having buildings flown into every day, or anything that might actually look like a clear and present or imminent danger that might justify invading another country and making war against them. I just don't see it. And, it's not that I want buildings to be flown into on a daily basis, or bombers flying overhead, or people with explosives strapped to themselves on major thoroughfares -- but where are the news reports that the police caught someone with explosives strapped to himself before he could get on a bus? If the Patriot Act is so great and the terrorists so dangerous to our safety here in the U.S. that we must start a war elsewhere to distract them, where are the news reports of all the bad guys caught on American soil? And of the guys who have been detained on (or transported to) American soil, where's the proof that they're bad guys?

Are we engaging the enemy in this war on terror, at all? Or just killing a lot of people?

I just don't get these hysterical Republicans.

Maybe it's because I grew up on Ground Zero, a rat's whisker-width away from the Soviet Union and their Evil Empire with all its ICBMs -- all pointed at me, my family, my country -- as two nations stood poised on the brink of nuclear annihilation. "Mutually Assured Destruction". That was dirty-bomb-in-your-pants scary. But, we didn't need the Patriot Act then. FISA worked then, and works now. We didn't need "National Security Zones" where people weren't allowed their First Amendment rights of holding up a sign telling the President they think he's being a wanker.

Hysterical. They're freaking overwrought, is what. Buncha nancies, if you ask me.

Ethics! What a Great Idea

Getting A Clue: Dems Ready Proposal on Code of Conduct

The Democratic proposals would end practices that Abramoff used frequently to court members of Congress.

Well. Finally. And a "hell, yeah", while you're at it.

Americans say "Impeach"

New Zogby Poll Shows Majority of Americans Support Impeaching Bush for Wiretapping

By a margin of 52% to 43%, Americans want Congress to consider impeaching President Bush if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge's approval, according to a new poll commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a grassroots coalition that supports a Congressional investigation of President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

The poll was conducted by Zogby International, the highly-regarded non-partisan polling company. The poll interviewed 1,216 U.S. adults from January 9-12.

The poll found that 52% agreed with the statement:

"If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment."

43% disagreed, and 6% said they didn't know or declined to answer. The poll has a +/- 2.9% margin of error.

Proven Liar

Bill O'Reilly showed up on Letterman recently to discuss the ludicrus "War on Christmas." Transcript, Letterman tells O'Reilly '60% of what you say is crap'

My guess is, the percentage is higher. War on Christmas Fraud Exposed: The Silent Night 'Rewrite' That Wasn’t "Ridgewood Elementary didn’t change the lyrics to 'Silent Night.' What they did was perform a 1988 copyrighted play called 'The Little Tree’s Christmas Gift.'"

Saginaw Township On The O'Reilly Factor Radio Program "A Mid-Michigan Township makes national news but there's a problem, local officials say the whole thing was made up."

Latest (Bad) News on Diebold and ES&S

ES&S reneges on Leon County deal 2 days before HAVA deadline

After pursuing Leon County for a full year, sending a contract, and as the final test conducting a Leon County election on its equipment, two ES&S executives shook hands on a $1.8 million deal with Leon County Election Supervisor Ion Sancho. Right before the HAVA deadine though, Election Systems & Software (ES&S) CEO Aldo Tesi abruptly aborted the Leon County contract.

Leon County's Ion Sancho shook up the voting industry in December when he authorized a security test which proved the Diebold system can be hacked. In short order, Volusia County (FL) dumped Diebold, hastily signing an agreement to purchase ES&S; St. Louis County (MO) dropped its Diebold contract, the state of California refused to certify Diebold (sending its machines back to federal testing labs) and the state of Pennsylvania decertified the Diebold optical scan system. California and Pennsylvania acted on the advice of their own independent voting system examiners, who confirmed problems with the code exploited by Finnish computer expert Harri Hursti to hack the system in Leon County.

PRIVATIZATION & HAVA PUT ELECTIONS OFFICIAL'S HEADS IN A VISE

Privatization of the voting industry puts election officials in a tough spot. Florida has authorized only three vendors to sell voting equipment (ES&S, Sequoia and Diebold). However, because the vendors are private corporations, they can choose to sell to whomever they want, refusing customers at will.

Sequoia Voting Systems decided not to sell to customers in Ohio, saying the number of sales available was not enough to make a profit. Hart Intercivic chose not to sell to customers in North Carolina, forcing elections officials there to buy only from ES&S.

ES&S decided to sell its machines to Volusia County, a new customer about the same size as Leon County, while denying its machines to Leon County. Nothing prevents a vendor from refusing to sell to counties deemed too small to turn a profit, or to jurisdictions they simply don't like.

The federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) denies funds to counties that don't purchase voting machines, states dictate which vendors are approved, and vendors dictate to whom they will sell.

WHO'S FIGHTING FOR THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CITIZENS?

"It looks like I've got two bad actors to deal with [ES&S and Diebold], and neither one of them is acting responsibly in my opinion. What do I do to serve the best interests of the citizens of Leon County?" says Sancho. "HAVA has forced us to purchase systems that in my opinion are not appropriate for citizens to be voting on, but as Dickens says, 'The law is an ass.'"

BREACH OF CONTRACT OR EXTORTION?

Sancho's problems with Diebold accelerated after he allowed security tests, revealing a problem with the GEMS central tabulator and the optical scan memory card design. Dr. Herbert Thompson demonstrated on Feb. 14 and May 2 last year that he was able to gain control of the "mother ship" – the central tabulator that counts votes from all the precinct machines. Finnish expert Harri Hursti demonstrated on May 26 that he was able to alter results tapes using a rigged memory card, and on Dec. 13, rigged an entire mock election from start to finish using a memory card.

ES&S had solicited Mr. Sancho in December 2004, but Sancho did not offer an affirmative response. However, with HAVA deadlines looming, Diebold was hitching their wagon solely to touch-screen voting, and in Florida, touch-screens do not provide a paper trail. Sancho favored the AutoMark, a disability-approved technology distributed by ES&S which does produce a paper ballot.

In June 2005, shortly after the May security tests by Thompson and Hursti, Sancho approached ES&S to inquire about purchasing the AutoMark.

"I called ES&S and said, 'Can I get deep discounts over the price if I go with AutoMark?' They crowed about it [the opportunity to do business]. They said 'Absolutely, both on our M100s [optical scan machines] and on the AutoMark.'"

Sancho began thinking even more seriously about dumping Diebold when, on July 13 at 11:09 a.m. he received a letter warning him that Diebold would not support his system if he purchased Automark for the disabled. In the state of Illinois, Diebold apparently has not made the same threat, and on Jan. 9 this year Illinois certified the AutoMark for use with Diebold optical scanners.

Matters got worse. Leon County was paying $6,000 a year for an active contract with Diebold to provide software upgrades. The state of Florida had certified a central tabulator upgrade, GEMS 1.18.19, in March 2005.

In August, Sancho was notifed that the city of Tallahassee was going to conduct a referendum.

"I contacted Diebold and asked, 'Why haven't we receved 18.19?" Sancho says. "I was placed on hold and then shifted to Michael Lindroos [the attorney for the Diebold, Inc. board of directors].

"I asked Mr. Lindroos, I said 'We have a contract with you for the software, there seems to be some stalling for the receipt of this software.' He directly told me we would not receive the new software unless we signed a new contract.

"Now, I have a signed check here, Diebold cashed the check. They’re in breach of their contract."

ES&S WAITS TILL THE LAST MINUTE TO DITCH

ES&S and Leon County proceeded ahead for the transition from Diebold to ES&S.

As the last step for the sale, Sancho told ES&S, "We’re going to require one test. We'll use your equipment on November 17, and if it performs satisfactorily we'll proceed. It performed well, and we received the contract. I spoke with Al Benek (VP Operations) and Dick Fox (VP Accounting). ES&S invited our staff to join the ES&S users group. We were treated as if we were already a member of the ES&S community."

"Everything seemed copacetic. I told them we had their estimate and would they cut off $50,000 off their estimate. Mr Fox said not a problem, Mr. Benek said not a problem. We shook hands on the deal. They sent the contract back to ES&S for the adjustment, and I waited to get it so I could cut the check.

Near the end of December, Sancho received a call from the Florida representative for ES&S, telling him there was a problem.

"He said, 'You need to talk to the president,'" Sancho says. "I said certainly, I volunteered to fly to Nebraska to directly talk to him face to face."

They ended up setting up a conference call. And on Dec. 29, just two days
before the HAVA deadline, Sancho got the final decision by way of a message
left on his voicemail.

Gary Crump, from ES&S, said in the recorded message that ES&S had made a decision not to sell to Leon County, claiming that the resources of ES&S were stretched to the limit and therefore they had decided only to sell to existing customers, and customers they had been pursuing and involved with for a long time.

Whatever. That doesn't explain why they just sold a system to Volusia County, when it dumped Diebold on Dec. 17, nor why ES&S sold their system to a number of other jurisdictions in the U.S.

"They praised Leon County as recognized as an industry leader but said 'We just can't provide you the equipment,'" said Sancho. "Coming as it did at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day, we are now subject to losing almost $600,000 of HAVA monies, and ES&S chose not to fulfill approximately 1.8 million in sales."

This includes a decision to decline to sell the AutoMark, which may violate ES&S's agreement with the makers of AutoMark.

EVIL FLOURISHES WHERE GOOD PEOPLE DO NOTHING

What's next? Sancho admits he's been on the front lines, and that it's no fun to take bullets from the voting industry while he stands his ground on behalf of the voters of Leon County. He's playing his cards close to the vest.

"We have made preliminary contacts with legal representatives of Diebold pursuant to a number of issues," he says.

Ion Sancho is to be credited not only with taking a stand on behalf of his voters. He has forced the voting machine vendors to show their true colors, and honest elections officials throughout the country are struggling with untenable options.

America, if ever there was a time to stand shoulder to shoulder, and show support of an American hero, this is the time.

The time has come for a congressional investigation with subpeona power and testimony under penalty of perjury. This can be state or federal. Whoever gets Diebold and ES&S and key figures in the certification process under oath first will join Sancho in the history books.

[Permission to reprint with link to http://www.blackboxvoting.org]

*hysterical laughter*

Only Fafblog could make the Court this funny. Fafnir interviews Samuel Alito

(be sure to read to the bit about divining the Founders' original intent)

Environmental Refugees Not Just People?

Kenya's Elephants Suffering from Drought, Clash with People over Resources

"Elephants in Kenyan national parks and reserves are leaving their drought-stricken sanctuaries to search for water and food near human settlements, where they have attacked starving people trying to protect their crops."

Awesome Map!

China map lays claim to Americas. Wow. I NEED a reproduction of this map.

A map due to be unveiled in Beijing and London next week may lend weight to a theory a Chinese admiral discovered America before Christopher Columbus.

The map, which shows North and South America, apparently states that it is a 1763 copy of another map made in 1418

Impeachment, Alito, "Unitary Executive"

Former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, in Article, Calls for Impeachment Proceedings Against Bush

"Like many others, I have been deeply troubled by Bush’s breathtaking scorn for our international treaty obligations under the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions. I have also been disturbed by the torture scandals and the violations of U.S. criminal laws at the highest levels of our government they may entail. ... These concerns have been compounded by growing evidence that the President deliberately misled the country into the war in Iraq. But it wasn’t until the most recent revelations that President Bush directed the wiretapping of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- and argued that, as Commander in Chief, he had the right in the interests of national security to override our country’s laws -- that I felt the same sinking feeling in my stomach as I did during Watergate." [Emphasis added]

The Court told Nixon, Mr. "Imperial Presidency", that he didn't.

George Bush's Rough Justice

The Unitary Executive: Scholar says Bush has used obscure doctrine to extend power 95 times

The doctrine assumes, in its extreme form, nearly absolute deference to the Executive branch from Congress and the Judiciary.

Which, of course, destroys the tension, the balance of power between the three branches (what we call "checks and balances" or the "separation of powers"). Our equilibrium.

The Unitary Executive: Is The Doctrine Behind the Bush Presidency Consistent with a Democratic State?

Noting that when Bush recently signed the torture law, he did so with a "Presidential signing statement" that interpreted the law in such a way as to give him carte blanche to torture anyway. "President Bush has used presidential signing statements more than any previous president."

The Unitary Executive During the Third Half-Century, 1889-1945(abstract). Interesting looking paper. And, its followup, The Unitary Executive in the Modern Era (direct link to the PDF)

Delicious bit of pro-ID-Evolution-Criticism Rebuttal

Luskin's ludicrous genetics

US Going to Abandon Afghanistan Again?

Sounds like 'yes'. Nato's Afghanistan troop dilemma.

It didn't end up well the last time, when we skipped out on them in 1989. So, what happens if we do it again? The Taliban -- that Al Qaeda-friendly regime -- just takes back over?

Again?

"Robust Executive" Must be Code for Something Else

In Beyond the imperial presidency, Steve Chapman suggests it's "reckless".

Happy Hannukah!

Happy Hannukah!

Intelligent Design

What's wrong with intelligent design, and with its critics

I disagree with the author's reasoning, but agree with the result: evolution, not "intelligent design", should be taught in science classes. My view of the purpose of science education is teaching the scientific method by example, and that drives the curriculum in the same direction the author advocates: toward presentation of the best science. So what do I disagree with? Putting the emphasis on exclusively on finding the "best science" to put into the classroom. For two reasons: it (inadvertantly?) frames the discussion about evolution and intelligent design as a theory v. theory debate, which it's not (and the author touches on this point), because intelligent design is only a theory in the lay meaning of the term, not the scientific one. But, also, because illustrating the scientific method with "bad" theory may be just as effective -- or more so -- than teaching it with "the best".

In a modern college level physics curriculum, you find out you've been "wrong all along" in your use of the classical model of physics, and begin to explore the strange, charmed world of quantum mechanics. But on the gross level (human sized stuff, as opposed to subatomic particles), classical mechanics still works great. QM equations reduce to their classical forms, basically. However, this means classical mechanics, is, technically, 'flawed', because it doesn't really reflect out current understanding of how things actually work.

And yet, QM's just too abstract, too complicated, etc., to try and get into high schooler's heads. So, go ahead and teach classical mechanics -- you can actually do experiments in class on that, without spending too much of the school budget, you know? It works. Even though it's only an approximation...even though it's not actually the 'best' science available.

Besides, the author starts off by asserting without proof there's no such thing as the scientific method. A point on which I strenously disagree. It's also the point at which I wonder if we're not speaking the same language. To me as a scientist, science is knowledge gained via what we refer to as the scientific method. The author seems to have a broader definition, perhaps scienter as it is meant in a legal framework, as "knowledge", regardless of the method by which it is acquired.

Security?

The Military is Spying on Americans

More Erosion of Police Oversight in the U.S.