Guest Blogger of the Week

100% Paper Ballots, 100% of the Time

Jesse McDougall — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:55:31 -0400

Forgive my exasperation but I am stunned that main stream media is doing such a poor job investigating the security (or exposing the lack thereof) of the American elections. I have worked in the technology and networking industry long enough to know that NO electronic vote is safe.

Even voter-verified electronic votes with a paper receipt are subject to electronic theft. Think of this: The country votes on November 4th. Barring any massive errors, we know the name of the newly elected (or selected) President on November 5th. There’s no time for audits, no time for recounts, no time for security checks. The number that the electronic boxes report is the number CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, and MSNBC will report. Changing the results of an election after calling the winner would be catastrophic for the country. Riots galore. Therefore it is vitally important that we have—and are counting—the ACTUAL results on November 4th.

There is no way to do this using electronic machines. Technologists can tack all the safeguards they like onto an electronic voting machine (paper trail, voter verification, locks, glass cases, beeps, whistles, etc.), but it is still—pardon the expression—putting lipstick on a horrendously ugly, vomit-spewing, farty pig. Once the vote is digitized it can be changed with zero evidence. One million anonymous votes can be changed in three seconds. That’s simply the nature of digital data. (Try changing one million paper ballots! I’ll give you … six seconds! Betcha can’t.)

My Year on Wall Street

Sam Husseini — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:34:38 -0400

"The sliver of sky that keeps me alive." That was the phrase I'd mutter to myself throughout my year on Wall Street as I walked around downtown Manhattan amid the skyscrapers on my breaks. That's what got me through that year about twenty years ago.

I had recently graduated from college with a co-major from the math and philosophy departments. The market had crashed, but I managed to land a job at Moody's Investors Service. Aspects of the job were interesting--I got to play with SQL database and C, which was moderately interesting. But mostly it was doing mundane fixes for the software that ran Moody's records of various companies.

The software was used by an entire floor full of clerical workers, "the poor shleps," "the people upstairs," who typed in data all day long, whose jobs were more boring than my own, but who I suppose at least got to commiserate with scores of co-workers.

After a while my boredom compelled me to barely work at all. I was stunned as I'd get paychecks I didn't feel were earned. Then it occurred to me: They weren't paying me for the work I was doing, they were paying me for work I wasn't doing. They were paying me for my passivity. They were paying me for my silence. They were paying me NOT to do certain things. To NOT apply my skills in certain ways that might threaten their interests.

My boss was actually a relatively decent guy. When I told him I was resigning, he seemed genuinly curious about my feelings. Told me about one time he quit a job and wanted to shout "Free at Last" a la Martin Luther King. I told him it was a Henry David Thoreau quote from "Civil Disobedience" that was echoling through my mind:

Tips For Tonight's Debate

Reiz Oec — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:56:36 -0400

Joe Biden

1. Don’t grit your teeth and say, ”I am too a patriot!”
2. Don’t plagiarize Sarah Palin.
3. Prove you are Joe Six Pack.
4. Throw jabs. Don’t go for the knock out.
5. Smile but don’t be smug.

Sarah Palin
1. Remember the name of whatever publication or website you read.
2. Remember what you read.
3. Stay away from Russian stuff, and Canada too!
4. Smile. A lot.
5. Don’t look like a moose caught in headlights.

You

1. No laughing.
2. Keep score.
3. Drink heavily.
4. Txt often.
5. Blog when appropriate.

Sarah Palin Questions

Rose Aguilar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:33:10 -0400

Dear Gwen Ifill,

It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, the national media were fixated on lipstick. What a difference a Wall Street crash makes. It’s been remarkable to hear conservatives on the Sunday talk shows discuss the growing income gap, stagnant wages, and job losses. If it weren’t for the economic crisis, who knows what the inane topic of the day would be.

It’s a good time to be the moderator of such an important debate. If the lead story were lipstick, you’d probably be criticized for asking “gotcha” questions, but because this country is on a downward spiral, I’d be willing to bet that most people expect you to ask tough questions about issues that actually matter.

The women I’ve interviewed over the past few months are tired of questions about flag lapel pins and the petty back and forth. They’re also tired of being ignored. Other than polls, it’s all too rare to hear from actual voters.

Over the past few days, I've asked women, both in person and over the phone, what question they would like you to ask Sarah Palin at tonight’s debate. These women have dedicated their lives to fighting for the poor, affordable housing, abused and neglected children, the constitution, social justice, equal pay, veterans, equal rights for all, the uninsured, reproductive rights, civil rights, and innocent civilians whose lives have been forever changed by U.S. sanctions and bombs.

When I tell women about this article, they first chuckle, then take a deep breath, and say, “Where do I begin?” You're probably experiencing similar feelings. I would love to know what your preparation process has been like.

Here are the questions the women I interviewed would like you to ask Sarah Palin:

Special Coverage of the Vice Presidential Debates Tonight

Cenk Uygur — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:56:00 -0400

The Young Turks Show will be providing special live coverage of the Vice Presidential debates tonight, beginning at 9:00pm ET. During the debates TYT host Cenk Uygur will do play-by-play analysis of the candidates answers. Afterward, special guests will join the show to give their perspectives. There will even be a conservative blogger on the show to point out the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. Tune into www.theyoungturks.com and get your VP debate fix!

Michael Moore: How to Fix Wall Street

Michael Moore — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:25:30 -0400

The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!

Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily. George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not his, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt. Why on earth would we even think of giving these robber barons any more of our money?

I would like to propose my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, are predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves up by their own platinum bootstraps. Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into our heads one too many times: There... is... no... free... lunch. And thank you for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there will be no handouts from us to you. The Senate, tonight, is going to try to rush their version of a "bailout" bill to a vote. They must be stopped. We did it on Monday with the House, and we can do it again today with the Senate.