October 11, 2003
I've just watched Larry King
I've always loved magicians, music and comedy, and I don't very much like Larry's politics, but I have to be honest with you, I don't think I could have pulled off his latest interview. The guy and his guests amaze me.
Today we're ignoring Steven's porno posts and concentrating on his post about Americans
USS Clueless - Demonstration of power
An opinion about voting machines
Every once in a while I get an email that's not spam.
From: "SusanMarieWeber"
To: "EG Group Notices"
Subject: 9th Circuit Court report
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 20:58:39 -0700
2003-10-08
Hello everyone,
Re: Weber vs Jones
This memorandum contains an account of my oral argument before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and a few comments about what might take place in the future..
I'm still catching my breath. My mind is a whirl and I'd better wait until I receive a copy of the audio recording of the oral argument before I try to piece the exchange together. But here are a few of my remarks as I prepared them, and we’ll see/hear when we receive the audio tape what I REALLY said.
May it please the Court, my name is Susan Marie Weber, and I am the appellant in this case. I would like to take one minute to explain why the lower court was wrong, and reserve the rest of my time for rebuttal.
I filed this lawsuit after reading the report by the computer science experts at CalTech/MIT, who warned of the possibility of an entire election being overturned without being detected, and of the need to take steps to prevent this. (NOTE: a judge interrupted me here and commented that the CalTech/MIT documents were not part of the record so I had to explain that I knew that, but was merely giving background)
(so I continued after the interruption)
I was appalled to hear of this possibility. Friends asked me, "But Susan Marie, what is the real probability of the voting system being manipulated and an entire election being overthrown? Is it really all that likely?"
There are four people who are not qualified to answer that question: The Plaintiff (Me), The Defendants (the Riverside Co. Registrar of Voters, (Mischelle Townsend), and the Secretary of State), and Judge Stephen Wilson.
The only people who are qualified to answer a question about a computer voting system are computer science experts.
What do these experts say?
Almost unanimously, they agree that an election run by a computer without a voter verified audit trail is unreasonable.
* The risks are there
* The chances of detection are minimal
* The stakes are high.
Using a computer to create ballots for voters and then count them is simply not a reasonable system in the absence of a voter-verified audit trail. Not reasonable.
The defendants refuse to add a voter-verified audit trail to this system, and the Burdick case clearly states that such a policy must be reviewed under "Strict Scrutiny." This means the State must offer a "compelling state interest" for NOT adding a voter-verified audit trail.
It doesn't take a team of computer science experts from government, academia and the private sector to see that no such "compelling interest" exists.
This means the order of summary judgment by the lower court was wholly inappropriate.
Regrettably, what I had written out to say, and what I actually said do not quite match, because I was interrupted within 15 seconds after beginning, and there were several other questions as well. Equally a problem, I was 5th out of 8 on the schedule, so, while the first case was presenting, and thinking I had at least 40 minutes, was writing out my notes and had papers all over the bench, when they unexpectedly called our case as the second presenter, causing me to rush up there, not as prepared as I would have liked.
After I receive the Oral Argument Tape, I will be able to transcribe and verify what was actually said by both me and the defendants’ attorney, Doug Woods.
In his response, Counsel for Defendants gave the same sales pitch we’ve heard all along, with the same irrelevant features of the touchscreen machines: (my comments in parenthesis)
* It;s easier for voters to cast a ballot (even though it may not be faithfully recorded)
* Votes can be cast in many foreign languages (which can then be recorded by the machine as a vote for a rival candidate)
* "Ballot images" are protected by "redundant memory" (even though they don't reflect voter intent)
* The "ballot images" are then counted "accurately" ("garbage in, garbage out"). [EJF note: We find that with respect to computer output GIGO tends to mean Garbage In, Gospel Out.]
All of this completely misses the central, undisputed material fact in this case: these machines have no voter-verified audit trail, and are regarded by the overwhelming majority of computer science experts as an unreasonable voting system.
Below are some of the rebuttal comments I was able to get in.
The government claimed the touchscreen machines counted "ballot images" with a HIGH degree of accuracy.
But the machines were also creating these ballots
Without ballots verified by the voters, the voting rights of a huge percentage of the electorate is negated. And the ease with which their right to vote is negated, is greater than the ease with which that negation can be detected.
No audit is possible. No recount is possible.
The Lower Court completely missed the issue of auditability and instead ruled on such issues as
* counting accuracy,
* over-voting and under-voting,
* and so-called "redundant memory" systems of security.
My expert witnesses gave admissible evidence on the issue of auditability, testifying that a computer system without a voter-verified audit trail can never be secure and was not a reasonable way to conduct an election.
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One of the three judges was visibly unfavorable to our position and favorable toward the vendors’ claims on behalf of the touchscreen machines. The other two judges were open, and questioned defendants’ counsel from a position favorable to ours.
We expect an opinion that is favorable to our position, but we do not expect the Court to remand the case to the District Court. This is not entirely bad news. Here's why:
At one point in his final rebuttal, Defendants’ Counsel assured the Court that we were now "preaching to the choir," and that the Secretary of State was preparing to implement a timeline to require a voter verified audit trail.
We were gratified to hear this. This is a rather stunning reversal of position, given that we were originally characterized by the defendants as a bunch of Luddites who were "resistant to change." Our experts, such as Kim Alexander, and Prof. David Dill, whom we mentioned in our final brief to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, served on the Secretary of State's task force on touchscreen voting (which we also feel was formed partially in response to our lawsuit) and have impressed the Secretary of State with the need for a voter-verified audit trail. We have clearly had an impact on the system.
Susan Marie Weber
October 10, 2003
Ladies, I don't know him well enough
Ladies, I don't know him well enough to introduce you to him. Man, post a post and then women don't want to go out with me, they want to go out with John.
JohnTabin.com: Touching a Nerve
I was watching a female Jewish comedian on comedy central
I was watching a female Jewish comedian on comedy central when all of a sudden I had a desire to check my email as I was thinking about my Jewish ex-wife. I wonder if those penis enlargement pills really work.
AAArrghhh I got a hate email from an FBI guy
For over twenty years the Roger Weidner gang has been making money off insurance companies by being arsonists. I wonder when the insurance companies and the FBI are going to wise up.
It's about time those idiots awarded the peace prize to someone who deserves it
Yahoo! News - Iranian Activist Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Stupid remark of the day - "I use and abuse guys"
Stupid remark of the day - "I use and abuse guys". Sounds like something Bonnie Oekerman taught her daughter. Why am I always being subjected to stupid remarks? I mean I'm not even running for office. On a weirder note, my sister, who blames me for her husband at-the-time wrecking their car twenty years ago, is elated she conned some some morons into vandalizing a bunch of my vehicles over the years.
And the super-duper whitest superior cop in Washington County, Oregon, who is also a member of Roger Weidner's pro-nazi, white supremacist group, is still investigating me for crimes I never committed. Besides, even if I'm a homosexual Satanist that's not illegal, is it?
October 08, 2003
John has an opinon about some sort of Eastern state
I'm glad he's back and I'm glad he's spouting opinions, and I'm glad he's not dealing with horrible storms. I'm not necessarily glad he's he such a young, intelligent kid, but hey, the world is not perfect. If it were Led Zeppelin would still be touring.
JohnTabin.com: Terminated
Another super-duper white racist has been outed
Today we're outing pro-nazi, white racist Kim Andersen. He's probably the most guilty suspect in the assault of a woman.
I've been told by various people that the spelling of his last name is "Andersen" or "Anderson".
I've been told that he likes the "e" in the last part of his name. Since he assaulted me twice in front of many members of the Portland American Postal Workers Union, and since union president Larry Perez and vice-president Brian Dunn did nothing about it despite my entreaties, I might as well spell Kim's name the way he wants it.
What Gasoline Really Costs Us
No wonder everybody's bitching about the cost of driving around and looking sexy.
What Gasoline Really Costs Us
A subject (death) I hate
DB's Medical Rants brings up a subject I hate. Death. I didn't like it when I was in the military and people died under the weirdest circumstances. I didn't like it when I saw people shot to death or OD on drugs. I didn't like it when a woman I loved died in a car accident and I don't much like it now. However, physicians probably deal with death more often than others and DB has an opinion.
DB's Medical Rants: Rethinking isolation - the unintended consequences
I know and you know
I know and you know that it's vitally important to national security that Frozen Coke has to be popular at Burger King restaurants in Virginia . But if you think about it, maybe it's not really that important.
The latest from looney, homophobic, racist Washington County
I'm sitting here perusing the latest news from the the New York Times and I notice my old home state, California, is in the news. I wonder why.
Since I posted the post about Washington County's pro-nazi, white supremacist Roger Weidner gang, the gang has sent over some morons to tell me they are computer savvy, and to harrass me.
Despite claims by that idiot, Roger Weidner, that his brother invented the internet, those idiots and Victor Oekerman don't know diddly squat about computers. Even if they did, who cares? Roger still likes to brag about how his psycho mother attacks and assaults evil attorneys and judges and non-white folk and white folk who just aren't quite white enough.
My sister, Chris Andrea Hays, since she joined the Roger Weidner/Victor Oekerman clan and discovered how she's one of the whitest and finest superior people on the planet, is still going around making false accusations about people. She lied to the parents of the mother of my two daughters and we're waiting for my sister to apologize. However, we may wait a long time because the parents of the mother of my two daughters are Catholic and according to my sister and other members of the Roger Weidner/Victor Oekerman gang it's ok to lie to, steal from, and even beat up Catholics because Catholics are in league with the International Jewish Banking Cabal Conspiracy to buy up all the oil in the Middle East and take over the world.
Well, it looks like a Court Says 'Do Not Call' List Can Proceed. Too bad they don't have some sort of law against crazy white supremacist loonies calling me at home about and through suppertime. Maybe we oughta just give the phone to the dog and let her take the calls.
We're still taking nominations for ugly white supremacist hags. While the flatulent explosions of Bonnie Oekerman certainly cause some consternation in the space alien community, and while she was certainly one of the ugliest hags in the super-duper superior Aryan master race community, she's dead so she can't win as "ugly, old, white supremacist hag of the week". The psycho ex-mother-in-law from Hell is dead but her evil spirit lives on. If we could bottle that spirit we could fumigate bug infested residences with it.
We have a family who lives west of where I live and they have a young daughter who sometimes hangs out with my two daughters. The looney racist cop in the Roger Weidner gang told the daughter and her relatives that I'm a homosexual and that I like young women so the looney, homophobic, racist cop sent the daughter over to act the part of a Lolita. (I know, I know, being a homosexual and liking to make it with young girls is mutually exclusive and doesn't make sense, but remember, this looney cop is an idiot.) It's amazing to me the daughter and her relatives fell for this nonsense because it would amaze you to see how foolish the cop got them to behave.
Only is looney, homophobic, racist Washington County, Oregon
October 07, 2003
Pavel Goberman is running for office
Pavel Goberman is running for office and it seems he's aligned himself with one of the "pig boy's" (who is Roger Weidner) organizations, Oregon Judicial Watch.
It's possible Pavel Goberman isn't aware that Roger Weidner and his gang are hate-filled white supremacists and that if Roger Weidner and his gang ever control the government in Oregon or the United States, some of the first people to be put to death will be people who are not members of the white super-duper, superior whitest, master Aryan race.
Check out Pavel Goberman's reason for running for office here.
At the moment the Roger Weidner white supremacist gang are really pissed off at Judge Michael McElligott of Washington County so I guess we can assume Judge McElligott is not letting Roger Weidner's gang get away with any of their white supremacist shenanigans in the Judge's courtroom.
October 06, 2003
Maybe I'm not the only one for Arnold
Well, whatta you know. Somebody is challenging the orthodoxy for me. I wonder if this means I have to give up prawns in cocktail sauce. This brings up the important question between commercials. Who is Alex Knapp and why am I linking to him?
The Financially-Lopsided Battle Over Creating A Public Utility District
Might as well create a Public Utility District.
I mean, after all, the monopolists haven't done that great a job.
Does the Navy have the money?
According to sources in Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Florida and Oregon, the Navy would actually spend millions trying to hide the fact that some of its super-duper JAG officers were conned into committing felonies by that smooth talking, ex-prosecutor, Roger Weidner.
I've been told over and over that I'm the scum of the earth because I'm a blogger
I've been told over and over that I'm the scum of the earth for many reasons but one is because I'm a blogger and now the boss Volokh says something about how not all bloggers are the scum of the earth. Some are prof bloggers. Some aren't.
As you can tell I have many prof blogs on my blogroll. They have the time (sometimes) to blog and they have interesting comments that I like to read. I also have blogs on my blogroll that are not prof blogs. I have these blogs because the people who have these blogs have the time (sometimes) to blog and they have interesting comments that I like to read.
I guess my point in this pointless post is that it is nice to know I'm not the scum of the earth because I blog. I'm the scum of the earth because I'm not a member of the super-duper white Aryan master race. Maybe this is why I still watch Martha Stewart in the morning.....hoping.....and hoping....she'll eventually tell me about all the secrets she knows about stockbroking.
In all seriousness, I hope not much happens to her because I do admire her and her accomplishments, and they are many.
However, I do make jokes about everything....even me......
Man, Jack is on a roll
Jack has so many good posts lately that I don't quite know what to do. I think I'll just admire that baseball park on his site.......or......yeah, why not, the links will be in my database and google will pick up on the words in the links.....and besides.....linking means I don't have to think too much because I'm watching really important stuff on TV.. the three stooges. Hey, I think the three stooges are almost as funny as Abbot and Costello.
I knew my four drunk readers in Joe's Saloon in the Virgin Islands would want me to make a comment about the Chicago Cubs beating the Braves. But, you see, I never, ever take on controversial subjects so all I can say is, "Who's on first"?
While you're busy trying to figure out who's on third, check out this post and this post and this post about travel.
Beethoven music and death threats
Amish Tech Support asks a most difficult question. I honestly don't know but I think I'll hazard a guess. My guess is maybe, maybe not.
Imagine Khomeini being shot on sight by thugs of Saddam
I guess the grandson of the dictator Khomeini who replaced another dictator wants Iran to be liberated. Good, so do I. Screw the dictators and let's hope the people of Iran can one day have a Republic where individual rights are real.
Does anybody still take Gloria Allred seriously?
Gloria Allred has been coming up with the false accusation of the day and the false victim of the day for so long that, seriously, does anyone with an ounce of common sense take her seriously anymore? I guess we'll find out how many people take her seriously if that sleazeball, Davis, remains governor.
Some questions for the day that have nothing to do with California or Rush
Is the incompetence of NCIS institutional or the result of hiring idiots....or both?
Should a dirty, racist cop in Washington County, Oregon be allowed to use his badge and his authority to attempt to keep a person from getting a divorce from a psycho, violent, racist, homophobic ugly woman? Should a dirty, racist cop in Washington County be allowed to use his badge and authority to try and get people to join a violent, white supremacist group and then use his badge and authority to try and keep people in the violent, white supremacist group.
Should the dirty, racist cop who bugged my relative's house have given the videos to the Victor Oekerman pig family and does this give me even another reason the sue Washington County, Oregon?
Should an idiotic, out-of-control psychiatrist who diagnoses people with the dreaded International Homosexaul Satanic Ritual Abuse Syndrome be allowed to continue to practice Voodoo Christianity psychiatry in Washington County?
Should America's looniest, most racist, homophobic Chamber of Commerce speak out about extreme sleaziness?
Should I quit getting hate email from the pig family telling me how all churches in Washington County are engaging in homosexual, Satanic activities?
It's absolutely amazing to me that morons from the Chamber of Commerce come over to where I live and tell me to be more like the fine, upstanding, white racists in the local psycho, violent, white supremacist group. Fat chance. I would rather be like Mother Theresa. Of course, here in looney, homophobic, racist Washington County many people hate Mother Theresa because she's Catholic, which, of course, means she was a part of the International Jewish Banking Cabal conspiracy dedicated to buying up all the oil in the Middle East and then taking over the universe.
Only in looney, homophobic, racist Washington County.
The Oregon State Beavers won...but...
Some of the teams I was rooting for, the Oakland Raiders, the Oregon Ducks football team, and Women's USA soccer team lost.
Good news: the Oregon Ducks soccer team won and the Oregon State football team won and Portland beat Oregon State at soccer.
Now for a break from news about the California governor's race, we now will check out why Oakland is having difficulties.
October 05, 2003
You're supposed to READ the Gweilo Diaries????!!!!
Jeez, I never knew you were supposed to read the The Gweilo Diaries. I thought you were just supposed to look at the pictures. I knew the pictures were in a foreign language so I had a foreigner teach me the foreign languge needed so I could properly look at the pictures.
As soon as my foreign language expert sobers up I'm going to ask him to read.......something......I forget what......oh yeah, something really important like this.
Now for the "stupid quote of the day". We have Democratic Party consultant Ben Austin saying, "If there is anything that can evaporate a lead quickly in the polls, it's sex and Hitler."
Here's my quote of the day. "They pay this guy money for this kind of nonsense?"
I was going to post something, but at the moment I'm watching Chris Rock
Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker
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Between HBO and Comedy Central I ought to be able to steal enough routines to make a fortune and retire. Maybe I could be the new Milton Berle.
HBOC 307
Oct 05 08:00pm
Special/Other, 70 Mins.
The comedian performs at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Adult Situations; Graphic Language.
Original Airdate: July 10, 1999.
News about the bloggercon
Links with news about the bloggercon held at Harvard cna be found here.