Political Roundtable Cosmic String of Cataclysm - Part V

[hands11]

What I'm looking forward to most? The end of political ads. Yeesh.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmT7SyfOCrk[/youtube]

[hands11]

Not to be paranoid but considering Michael Husted is involved.....


Click on the link to read the rest.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9698

Why Was Uncertified 'Experimental' Software Installed on ES&S Tabulation Systems in 39 OH Counties Just Days Before Presidential Election?


Last week, Bob Fitrakis and Gerry Bello at FreePress.org reported an important story concerning what they described as "uncertified 'experimental' software patches" being installed at the last minute on electronic vote tabulation systems in 39 Ohio counties.

The story included a copy of the contract [PDF] between Republican Ohio Sec. of State Jon Husted's office and ES&S, the nation's largest e-voting system manufacturer, for a new, last minute piece of software created to the custom specifications of the Sec. of State. The contract itself describes the software as "High-level enhancements to ES&S' election reporting software that extend beyond the current features and functionality of the software to facilitate a custom-developed State Election Results Reporting File."

A subsequent story at The Free Press the following day included text said to be from a November 1 memo sent from the OH SoS Election Counsel Brandi Laser Seske to a number of state election officials confirming the use of the new, uncertified software on Ohio's tabulator systems. The memo claims that "its function is to aid in the reporting of results" by converting them "into a format that can be read by the Secretary of State's election night reporting system."

On Friday evening, at Huffington Post, journalist Art Levine followed up with a piece that, among other things, advanced the story by breaking the news that Fitrakis and his attorney Cliff Arnebeck were filing a lawsuit for an immediate injunction against Husted and ES&S to "halt the use of secretly installed, unauthorized 'experimental' software in 39 counties' tabulators". Levine also reported that Arnebeck had referred the matter to the Cincinnati FBI for criminal investigation of what the Ohio attorney describes as "a flagrant violation of the law."

"Before you add new software, you need approval of a state board," says Arnebeck. "They are installing an uncertified, suspect software patch that interfaces between the county's vote tabulation equipment and state tabulators." Arnebeck's alarm is understandable.

Again, these are Federal elections. No one state should be allowed to do this crap. We need standards and transparency. I'm sick of this crap.

This is exactly how things end up getting handled at the Federal level. After years of watching the states butcher this kind of thing, the Fed finally steps in. Then years later people complain about how the Fed does to much.

[hands11]

By now I think everyone in this thread knows who they are voting for. Most here have a very strong preference.

So here is a fun, albeit twisted, question relating to the one thing that binds us all together -- The Wizards.

What level of Wizards success would trade your vote for? What level of Wizards success would you trade the election for?

As a DC resident I would gladly vote for Romney if the Wizards were to make the playoffs this season.

Four years of Romney? That's much tougher obviously. But if you could give me two Wizards titles during that span, I may do it.

I'm a sick puppy -- I know! What say you all?

There is no level of Wizards success that would have me betray my country and the pillars of democracy and , sell out future generations. I would rather the Wizard dissolve.

[hands11]

This is about the closest I've studied the candidates, and about the only time I have paid much attention to Katy Perry.



Katy is obviously a huge presidential supporter.

Wonder what the independent ballot looks like? If she turns around ...

Or if she bends over, maybe the election is a slip.

Just a hair shy of being a land slide.

Every American deserves a piece of the pie.

[montestewart]

By now I think everyone in this thread knows who they are voting for. Most here have a very strong preference.

So here is a fun, albeit twisted, question relating to the one thing that binds us all together -- The Wizards.

What level of Wizards success would trade your vote for? What level of Wizards success would you trade the election for?

As a DC resident I would gladly vote for Romney if the Wizards were to make the playoffs this season.

Four years of Romney? That's much tougher obviously. But if you could give me two Wizards titles during that span, I may do it.

I'm a sick puppy -- I know! What say you all?

There is no level of Wizards success that would have me betray my country and the pillars of democracy and , sell out future generations. I would rather the Wizard dissolve.

You must not live in DC

[Kanyewest]

538 now has Obama favored to win the electoral college by around 91%.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

http://my.barackobama.com/25-Reasons

25 reasons from 25 people who are voting Obama:

1. "The Affordable Care Act is saving my daughter's life."
Stacey, Arizona

2. "Obama is for the vets. He helped us wind down in Iraq, he's improved mental health policy with VA benefits."
Joel, Minnesota

3. "Obama stuck his neck out for us, the auto industry. He wasn't going to let it just die, and I'm driving in this morning because of that, because of him."
Brian, Ohio

4. "Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive."
Joe Biden, Delaware

5. "Supreme Court Supreme Court Supreme Court."
Andrew, California

6. "Arithmetic."
Bill Clinton, New York

7. "He cares for the 100 percent."
Shana, Texas

8. "When Obama came into office, he successfully renewed our country's place in the community of nations, making cooperation in tackling the world's challenges possible."
Willis, North Carolina

9. "The actions he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid."
Colin Powell, Virginia

10. "I was really very grateful to him for standing up for those kids who are having a really rough time out there because of their orientation."
Jane Lynch, California

11. "For me, President Obama is our best choice because he has a vision of the United States as a place where we are all in this together."
Bruce Springsteen, New Jersey

12. "He has a real plan for rescuing the economy that passes the 'math' test."
Teresa, Virginia

13. "Having someone in office who understands how powerful our voice can be is very important."
Jay Z, New York

14. "I am voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden because I can trust them to care for the middle class and restore the American dream."
Steven, Florida

15. "The first measure he signed into law after becoming president was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- so a female high school counselor or physical education teacher can fight for equal pay for equal work."
Connie Britton, California

16. "I believe in the America he wants for my grandchildren."
Nancy, Michigan

17. "We need four more years of repair, of helping the middle class achieve a sustainable economy."
James Taylor, North Carolina

18. "I've watched him fight for our country, stand by the middle class, the working class, the military, the education of our children, universal health care, women, the environment, and matters of national and domestic security."
Susan, Virginia

19. "The gifted 12-year-old I taught, whose parents were deported and left her here with her grandmother, will be allowed to stay and finish her education. She's been in the U.S. since age one."
Jamie, North Carolina

20. "I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics."
Michael Bloomberg, New York

21. "I have four children who are under 26 and able to stay on my health care plan. That's been huge."
Amy, Pennsylvania

22. "He's fighting to defend and better Social Security and Medicare -- because millions of Latino seniors rely on them."
Cristina Saralegui, Florida

23. "Thanks to the President's efforts to keep student loan rates low, I can expect to save nearly $1000 as I work to repay my student loans. And I don't have too many of those, thanks to the Federal Pell Grant program."
Sam, Minnesota

24. "It's been wonderful to have President Obama as a champion for access to health care for all women in this country."
Cecile Richards, New York

25. "Re-electing Barack Obama would lead to a stronger economic recovery than would be the case were Mitt Romney to win on November 6th."
Jared Bernstein, Washington, D.C.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

How many of you guys voted early?

[Wizardspride]

How many of you guys voted early?

I did.

It went smoothly.

[penbeast0]

Went to do it but, it's Florida and it wasn't smooth. I left and will vote today when there isn't a 6 hour line because they didn't staff the early voting sufficiently for demand.

[penbeast0]

Not to be paranoid but considering Michael Husted is involved.....


Click on the link to read the rest.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9698

Why Was Uncertified 'Experimental' Software Installed on ES&S Tabulation Systems in 39 OH Counties Just Days Before Presidential Election?


Last week, Bob Fitrakis and Gerry Bello at FreePress.org reported an important story concerning what they described as "uncertified 'experimental' software patches" being installed at the last minute on electronic vote tabulation systems in 39 Ohio counties.

The story included a copy of the contract [PDF] between Republican Ohio Sec. of State Jon Husted's office and ES&S, the nation's largest e-voting system manufacturer, for a new, last minute piece of software created to the custom specifications of the Sec. of State. The contract itself describes the software as "High-level enhancements to ES&S' election reporting software that extend beyond the current features and functionality of the software to facilitate a custom-developed State Election Results Reporting File."

A subsequent story at The Free Press the following day included text said to be from a November 1 memo sent from the OH SoS Election Counsel Brandi Laser Seske to a number of state election officials confirming the use of the new, uncertified software on Ohio's tabulator systems. The memo claims that "its function is to aid in the reporting of results" by converting them "into a format that can be read by the Secretary of State's election night reporting system."

On Friday evening, at Huffington Post, journalist Art Levine followed up with a piece that, among other things, advanced the story by breaking the news that Fitrakis and his attorney Cliff Arnebeck were filing a lawsuit for an immediate injunction against Husted and ES&S to "halt the use of secretly installed, unauthorized 'experimental' software in 39 counties' tabulators". Levine also reported that Arnebeck had referred the matter to the Cincinnati FBI for criminal investigation of what the Ohio attorney describes as "a flagrant violation of the law."

"Before you add new software, you need approval of a state board," says Arnebeck. "They are installing an uncertified, suspect software patch that interfaces between the county's vote tabulation equipment and state tabulators." Arnebeck's alarm is understandable.

Again, these are Federal elections. No one state should be allowed to do this crap. We need standards and transparency. I'm sick of this crap.

This is exactly how things end up getting handled at the Federal level. After years of watching the states butcher this kind of thing, the Fed finally steps in. Then years later people complain about how the Fed does to much.

Truth be told, I'm not convinced that the states still have a useful function that couldn't be better performed at the local or federal level. Just another massive layer of unnecessary bureaucracy.

[Nivek]

No early voting in Virginia, but I did vote almost as soon as the polls open. Lines weren't bad -- about 15 minutes from the time I hit the door to the time I cast my vote. There was a little early-morning disorganization, but really it went smoothly.

[Zonkerbl]

Took me almost 3 hours in downtown dc...

[dobrojim]

I voted this morning. Longest line I can remember seeing. At 6:15 no less.

Things were much easier when VA allowed early voting like in 2008,
when the party in power in VA wasn't trying to disenfranchise demographic
groups who might be more likely to vote against them. What a concept!

[doclinkin]

An hour this morning in PG County, but I was in the pre-work rush. 5 machines, 100 people in line.

[Spence]

How many of you guys voted early?

I voted on the morning of October 27, the earliest you can vote in Maryland. My wife and I stood in line for about two hours waiting to vote. Line stretched out of the elementary school, out of the parking lot and into the neighborhood. Remarkably, I saw no one get annoyed or angry. Very good spirits. Heavily pro-Obama crowd, as you can imagine in the MD suburbs of DC. Spent most of my time talking sports with the man in front of me in line. His 7-year-old boy was incredibly well-behaved.

I voted for Obama, Cardin, gay marriage and against table games.

[FAH1223]

Early voted on Friday night in College Park. I got to the polling place at 8 PM and didn't leave till after 11 PM. So many people.

Little brother is voting for the first time and he had to wait two hours where we live in Laurel.

[Nivek]

I was the 45th person to vote at my location.

[closg00]

Superstitious? According to the Red Skins rule and the November 6 rule, Romney will become Prez.
http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/ ... sr=(direct)%7Cutmccn=(direct)%7Cutmcmd=(none)&__utmv=14933801.%7C8=Earned%20By=msnbc%7Ccover=1%5E12=Landing%20Content=Mixed=1%5E13=Landing%20Hostname=www.nbcnews.com=1%5E30=Visit%20Type%20to%20Content=Earned%20to%20Mixed=1&__utmk=153203128#49709078

[miller31time]

Only stood in line for about an hour at the Towson, MD Armory. The 50-year-old lady in front of me was listening to her ipod and doing a dance I can only compare to a tame version of the Elaine Benes dance on Seinfeld.

I was thoroughly entertained.