Entries Tagged 'Politics' ↓

Much has been made about electronic voting machines and their reliability. Election officials and the makers of these machines claim they are completely reliable, yet security and computer experts insist that problems exist.

The security and computer experts are right. Think about Windows and how Microsoft releases several patches and security fixes every month. This means Windows which has been out and in development for years still has security problems. Why would anyone believe that a voting machine which has been in development for a lot less time does not have security problems?

I work in the computer industry and I can guarantee that security holes or bugs exist in Windows, in the computer that runs your car, in this website, in your DVR, at your credit card company, and in voting machines. With complex software there are always bugs and security issues.

So if e-voting machines have problems how should we count our votes? Well, there is no 100% accurate way to count votes. People will make mistakes hand counting, scanning machines may misread or have a bug, mechanical counters may break, and e-voting machines may have bugs. The most accurate of these four is the mechanical machine; however, this is hard for the voter to use because once they press a lever they cannot change the vote. Hand counting would be the next best, but is very slow and requires a lot of people. Scanning machines and e-voting both have the same security and bug issues.

The right solution in my opinion is to use the e-voting machines with a paper trail that is also audited. This does not mean every paper ballot should be hand counted, but 10% of the votes cast on the machine should be hand counted and a statistical analysis done to ensure that the voting machine most likely reported correctly. If this shows potential issues, then a full hand count for the voting machine should occur.

The problem is most states do not require a paper trail, so if the voting machine reports incorrectly, too bad the results are still treated as gold because there is no proof or possible indication of a problem. Encourage your legislators to require a paper trail for all voting so the machines can be audited and the general public have confidence in the results.

The economy is a mess, I am ready to quit my job, politics are dirty, any my county wants to increase the sales tax. Our school systems suck, no one will take any blame, the US are the world police, we are terrible at the job, Bush is an idiot, and McCain=Bush. Obama is just words, gas prices are too high, I want a promotion, and I have nothing to eat. We have no privacy, CEOs are too greedy, nobody respects IT, and we are in a depression.

Insurance is too expensive, the government is no help, and we are killing our environment. Recycling should be mandatory, gays should marry, the TV season sucks, and I work too much. Airlines have no customer service, traffic is a mess, the days are too short, and the government takes too much money.

But Ski Season is here!

Over the years we have seen many attempts at banning people or a way of life similar to the anti-gays and anti-gay marriage racist’s attempts today. We had prohibition trying to ban alcohol created by a few zealots, yet the public at large forced the ban to be repealed. We had a severe limit on women’s rights caused by the culture that eventually went away. We segregated African Americans but over time this was abandoned too. EVERY time America has tried to limit a basic facet of life these limits have been overthrown.

Similarly you have been trying to limit the ability of homosexuals to exist, to love, and to marry, and to a certain degree you have been succeeding. However, these limits, these constitutional amendments in 26 states, will all be repealed in the next 20 years. As Americans realize that homosexual exists, that your son, your neighbor, your best friend is gay, you the anti-gay racist will either change your mind or lose the support of the public. As Americans realize that their marriage is not going to fall apart solely because two gays married each other you will lose your support.

Eventually when Americans start realizing the reality that a human being is a human being and every human being should be able to enjoy the same basic pleasures of life all of the hard work you have put into limiting what other human beings can enjoy will tumble. No it is not going to happen in the next 2 years and you will be able to claim victory and feel proud of yourself, but all of your effort is for not. American history has proven this, and American history will prove it again.

So start thinking about your next fight as we all know there will be one, where you claim that life as we know it will end if another human being is able to enjoy the same enjoyments as you. Start researching polygamy, start researching people who have sex, start researching people who do not own cars, because who knows what the next group will be that says “Hey maybe I should be able to enjoy life too”.

Sincerely,
Chris

If you read my Why I cannot support the US Government post, you probably noticed that I have stopped supporting Obama. I used to support Obama because I believed he might actually cause some change in the government. However, over the last several weeks I have realized that under Obama nothing will change.

I supported Obama when I did not know much about him. I just knew every other option at the time would not cause change.

I have learned a lot about Obama since the general election started. For example he supported the FISA bill, he talks about voting for the lesser of two evils, and has started reforming his policy to less of a change stance to more of a “Continue the Course”. Because of this I can no longer support Obama, and since I have yet to see a candidate who is not the “Lesser of two Evils” I will not vote for a President unless a GOOD candidate miraculously appears. I will not support someone I can only support 20% who is the lesser of the bad.

Outside of the $10b cost per month of the Iraq war, I really don’t care about it. I know it is going on, I know soldiers are dying, but other than that I really don’t care.

I don’t care because No Ears Bush doesn’t listen to anybody about how the American public disagrees with the war. He continues the “Continue the Course” mantra as if no one has ever said anything disagreeable to the war. So if my yelling and screaming against the war isn’t going to do any good, I am going to ignore it.

The only thing we can do is not volunteer for the army. If there are not enough members of the armed forces that will force the president to request a draft. Requesting a draft for the Iraq war will be political suicide and the country would riot. So if we can’t raise an army the government will be forced to start pulling out of the policeman roll and then maybe we will actually be able to start paying off our debt.

So my political protest of the war is don’t join the army, don’t care that soldiers are dying, and in general ignore every aspect of the war except the $10b a month price tag. Because if our soldiers did not support the war, they would not join the army.

When I look at the political priorities Americans hold I see two distinct sets. You have the internet savvy young generation priorities and then you have everyone else. In my view here are the sets of priorities for each group:

Net Savvy

1. Privacy
2. National Debt
3. Bush’s War Crimes

Everyone Else

1. Economy
2. Gas Prices
3. Iraq

Interestingly you will even see some people list the “Net Savvy” priorities when they are chatting online, but if you talk to them in person they will list the “Everyone Else” priorities. Why is there this difference in priorities and why do people say different things depending on their surroundings?

Part of the reason people use 2 faces when talking about priorities is peer pressure. But I think another part of it is that in an indirect way all of the “Net Savvy” priorities support the “Everyone Else” priorities.

Decreasing the National Debt should increase the value of the dollar which should also improve the economy. Bush’s war crimes and the Iraq war is partially being blamed for high gas prices. Is this the true reason? Not entirely, but the National Debt and the Iraq war have certainly contributed. The privacy priority pertains to Iraq/Terrorism where the government is trying to strip all of our privacy under the name of terrorism. I believe the younger generation has seen through this facade and realized that reducing all risk of a terrorist attack is not worth giving up our privacy.

This is causing an interesting challenge for the presidential candidates having to try to appeal to both sides of the argument. However, in doing this they will eventually end up alienating one group of voters. As much as I wish differently, I believe that one group will be the “net savvy” block of Americans.

The US Government is supposed to be a government of the people for the people. This means it is supposed to represent the will of the people. The Constitution was written with this intention; however, the government is no longer doing its duty.

The US Government has become the government of the tyrant for the tyrant. One example of this is the FISA bill which in more legal terms says that if George Bush told you that warrantless wiretapping was legal and you allowed the government to execute warrantless wire taps then the warrantless wiretapping was legal and you cannot sue. Another example is the Iraq war, where a majority of Americans and even the Iraqis want a timetable for the US involvement to end. Yet the tyrant is again ignoring the will of the people and insisting that no timetable exist.

Those are just two examples of the government for the tyrant; however, a simple look at approval ratings in the 20% range for both Congress and the president show that the government is no longer a government that represents the will of the people.

But George Bush is leaving office in 6 months and you can elect a new president that is not a tyrant. Right?

Wrong! Both candidates have propagated the US Tyranist Government. McCain who before his presidential run followed the Republican line has voted for many of the things George Bush did that the US People did not want. Obama is supporting taking away one of the last ways the people have to fight the government. In voting for the FISA bill Obama has supported removing the ability to sue because George Bush said it was legal. Whatever happened to judicial oversight to prevent a tyrany?

The second amendment to the constitution, the right to bear arms, was created to provide the people with a last recourse against the government becoming too powerful. Is now the time to take up arms against the government? No. But now is the time to boycott this upcoming presidential election. Sorry, but none of the independent candidates are much better than McCain or Obama.

So this year for president I am voting for everyone!

I actually like Barack Obama, but only because he is something new. Unlike the other candidates he does not seem to be indoctrinated in the Washington kiss my ass and I will kiss yours system.

Yes, Barack does not have much experience, which is the entire reason I like him. That and he is an excellent orator. In my opinion, the only quality needed in a president is that they are good orators. I could care less what their policies are, a president’s job is to unite the nation. That is definitely something we need now, as the current screw up most definitely does not have that skill.

Barack seems like a well educated person who has the ability to unite. That is all I want in a president.

Forget all of her claims that she is being treated poorly by the press, forget here economic plan, and think about the underlying person.

A whore, without any “true” experience, that at least 10 years ago did not have the resolve to see anything through. Let me explain:

Whore: She is from Arkansas, yet while she was still living in the White House she bought a place in New York solely so she could establish residency and be Senator of New York. Apparently, Senator of Arkansas was not good enough for her.  

(Hillary is not originally from Arkansas.  She moved there when she married Bill; however, I still think she has spent a large portion of her life in Arkansas which to me means she is from Arkansas.)

No “True” Experience: It seems like every speech she gives she emphasizes 35 years of experience. Experience doing what? Before Bill, you never heard of Hillary. Yes, she was the First Lady for 8 years but during that time, she did not get anything done. She failed to pass all of her initiatives.

No Resolve: Speaking of failed initiatives, I think we all realize how often health care is being brought up in this election. What no one seems to be mentioning is her healthcare plan, is the same healthcare plan she tried to push through Congress while she was First Lady. In her 8 years in the White House, after failing to pass the plan through Congress in the first 2 years, she quit and did nothing about it for the next 14 years.

(I was wrong. The health care plans are radically different. However, after failing to push her healthcare plan through Congress she did not bring it up again. She quit.)

(Thanks to Robin for the corrections.