Archive for September, 2008
Bev Harris of Black Box Voting, has done us all a favor and released her 2008 Election Protection toolkit as an ebook. It’s like Cliff notes of Bev’s 8+ years of experience on the front lines of the modern voting rights movement. The ebook great information to get us actively involved in our democracy. The target audience is those who believe that the political process requires more than just showing up to vote once every four years those who know that somethings up with those voting machines that leave no paper trail or any other real evidence of the vote. You may remember Bev Harris from her Emmy-nominated HBO documentary ‘Hacking Democracy.’ I’ve been working on election integrity issues in Ohio for some time now and have met Bev several times. Her work is nothing less than groundbreaking. Please check it out.
The Security Group at the University of California in Santa Barbara has released a video that shows attacks carried out against the Sequoia voting system. The video shows an attack where a virus-like software spreads across the voting system. The coolest part of the video is the one that shows how the ‘brainwashed’ voting terminals can use different techniques to change the votes even when a paper audit trail is used. Pretty scary stuff. The video is proof that these types of attacks are indeed feasible and not just a conspiracy theory. Also, the part that shows how the ‘tamperproof’ seals can be completely bypassed in seconds is very funny (and quite disturbing at the same time)
Bev Harris of Black Box Voting, has done us all a favor and released her 2008 Election Protection toolkit as an ebook. It’s like Cliff notes of Bev’s 8+ years of experience on the front lines of the modern voting rights movement. The ebook great information to get us actively involved in our democracy. The target audience is those who believe that the political process requires more than just showing up to vote once every four years those who know that somethings up with those voting machines that leave no paper trail or any other real evidence of the vote. You may remember Bev Harris from her Emmy-nominated HBO documentary ‘Hacking Democracy.’ I’ve been working on election integrity issues in Ohio for some time now and have met Bev several times. Her work is nothing less than groundbreaking. Please check it out.
I haven’t did a lot of posting lately letting the political arena slide somewhat and not voicing my opinion on the candidates nor their potential vice presidents. Well you may know by now I am a staunch supporter of wildlife conservation and hunting but am dead set against the aerial hunting of wolves as has been promoted by GOP vice presidential nominee and Alaska governor Sarah Palin. She is in favor of opening up ANWR (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge) up to drilling that I oppose. I do agree that we can open up off shore drilling though. Opening up ANWR will do little to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and will threaten wildlife and habitat in a pristine area.
But I find the promotion of aerial hunting for wolves, bears and their cubs abhorrent to me. Governor Palin has done a lot to promote the killing of wolves and bears.
- Palin offered a $150 bounty on wolves with hunters only needing to present the left foreleg of a wolf to collect the money.
- She actively opposed a ballot measure that would have brought an end to aerial hunting and approved a $400,000 state funded campaign to sway voters on the issue.
- She also introduced legislation to make it easier to kill wolves and bears and which would have also removed the aerial hunting initiative from the ballot and block the ability of citizens to vote on the issue.
- The Board of Game, which she appoints, has approved the killing of black bear sows with cubs as part of the program and expanded the aerial control programs.
- The media is currently looking into reports that state officials implementing one of the aerial wolf killing programs illegally killed five-week old wolf pups just outside their dens
Warning: This video is extremely disturbing. It contains graphic images of aerial hunting of wolves — a brutal and needless practice that Governor Palin has fought hard to promote and expand.
In a ruling last week a federal appeals court has ruled that Beef exporters are banned from testing their cattle for mad cow disease without the approval from the USDA (United States Agriculture Department). Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wanted to test 100% of their beef so they can assure their customers in Japan and South Korea that their beef is safe. Once again we have another instance of the government interfering in a business decision. They should have the right to test as much as they want to but big meat packers are afraid of being forced to test more than 1% of their meat and the USDA sided with them. This not only has an effect on Creekstone Farms but it has the potential to reach all of us who eat beef. The appeals court ruled, 2 to 1, that under a 1913 law, test kits that are used only after an animal is killed still constitute “diagnosis” and “treatment” ? this for a disease that has no treatment and is 100% fatal ? and therefore fall under the USDA’s authority to regulate. Just how crazy is that?
Creekstone?s case is not entirely over. The appeals court remanded to the U.S. District Court to resolve whether the USDA?s refusal to let Creekstone test its cattle is arbitrary and capricious.