Author Archives: Lisa

Some Interesting Slashdot Threads On The Diebold Voting Machine Scandal


Diebold Audit Released, BlackBoxVoting.Org Shut Down

“The State of Maryland requested an audit of the Diebold electronic voting system by SAIC, after a report released by Johns Hopkins University and Rice Researchers (disclaimer: I’m one of Dr Rubin’s students) noted several security issues . A condensed, from 200 to 40 pages, and censored version of the report has been released online (PDF link). The report notes that ‘SAIC has identified several high-risk vulnerabilities that, if exploited, could have significant impact upon the AccuVote-TS voting system operation.'” However, Diebold says Maryland are moving forward with installation with “new security features” included, and elsewhere, Badgerman points out “Diebold has shut down blackboxvoting.org , apparently with copyright claims made to their ISP. But you can still go to the blackboxvoting.com site…”

From Tristero: On Democracy Now Bev Harris of BlackBoxVoting fame, disclosed (near the end of the transcript) that in the compromised 1.8Gigs off Diebold’s FTP site they uncovered “an actual election file containing actual votes on election day from San Luis Obispo County, California”. Problem is, the date stamp was 3:31pm – during voting hours! The Diebold system uses a wireless network card. Worse: “So that means if they can pull the information in, they can also send information back into those machines.
(Thanks, Tristero.)

Howard Makes Nationwide “House Call” Tonight

This just in from the Dean Campaign:

Tonight — Monday night — more than 14,000 supporters of Howard Dean in
all 50 states will gather for house parties. Together they will set a
world record for the largest conference call in history when Governor
Dean makes his “National House Call” at 8 pm ET.
But tonight’s House Call is about more than setting a record — it’s
about sending Howard Dean into the final quarter of the year with the
financial strength he needs to win the nomination and defeat George W.
Bush in 2004.
During the House Call, from 8 to 9 pm Eastern, I ask you to support the
efforts of more than 14,000 other Dean supporters by contributing to
Dean for America. Join tens of thousands of Americans who are making this
the September to Remember by contributing what you can tonight:

http://www.deanforamerica.com/contributetoday

You can also ‘virtually’ attend the house party — and listen to
Governor’s Dean’s conference call — by checking the campaign weblog
this evening at 9 pm Eastern:

http://www.blogforamerica.com

Your contribution tonight will make a tremendous difference in our
efforts to raise the final $2 million of our goal before midnight
tomorrow.

Message From MoveOn: Stop The Recall!

This was just sent to me from MoveOn:

Dear fellow Californian,
California is at a crossroads. Our finances, schools and society are all in crisis. And at this, our state’s most vulnerable moment, a handful of self-interested political players are attempting an unprecedented power grab.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and his backers are seizing the recall as a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him to buy the governorship. The abbreviated race has allowed him to duck tough questions and avoid unscripted debate. He has promised voters a balanced budget without new taxes or spending cuts — an impossibility except perhaps in a Hollywood movie. He has no plan for helping California and absolutely no experience that might help him come up with one.
The recall and Schwarzenegger’s self-funded, media-driven campaign are sucker punches to our democratic system and values. We have seven full days left to fight back and a team of 250,000 people for this final push.
If you have not joined the team by signing our “No Recall” pledge, then please join us now by clicking here:
http://moveon.org/pac/recall/
If you’ve already signed, then forward this message to all your like-minded friends, coworkers and family and ask them to join us for this final one-week blitz to defeat the recall, stop Schwarzenegger and defend democracy. Let’s grow our team to 300,000 people.
Don’t be discouraged by the weekend’s far-out poll: this race is so unusual that polls are even more meaningless than they usually are. We believe this is still an incredibly close race. And it’s a fact that there are enough of us working on this to make the difference ourselves. But we’ve got to work hard: pick up the phone and call that friend you know might forget to vote, put up a sign in your window, sign up for phone banking — do whatever it takes.
Over the next seven days we’ll be highlighting several different things you can do to make a real, tangible difference in the recall election. With 300,000 people working together, we’ll each just need to influence one other person to vote against the recall who might not have without us. If we can do that, then we’ll defeat the recall by a wide margin and democracy will have a decisive victory on October 7.
Sincerely,
— Carrie, James, Joan, Peter and Wes
(The Californians of) MoveOn.org PAC
September 29th, 2003
PS: For more on how Schwarzenegger leads the pack in fundraising thanks to his own personal contributions, check out this article.

Condoleeza Rice On Meet The Press

I’m too tired to blog this proper till the AM. But for those of you who might need this information NOW, I thought I’d let you know that it’s available and uploaded here:

Condoleeza Rice On Meet The Press

It’s available as one big 55 MB download or three smaller 18 MB downloads.
I’ll have smaller clips of highlights up in the AM.
Here’s a link to the usual, largely incomplete transcript. (Full text of this below.)
Enjoy!









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New Song! It’s Alright

Here’s another track with “studio” and “unplugged” versions.
It’s Alright
By Lisa Rein and Ron Taylor

This songs too personal to really go into details. It’s a song I wrote to my boyfriend in 1995. So I guess this one is for you, James.
People always wonder if I mean “it’s all right” or it’s (only) “alright.” But the lyrics below are intentional. For the most part, at that time in my life, for lots of different reasons, it was only “alright.”

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New Song! Hiding

I just put up a new song today. And there’s more where that came from.
This time I’m trying something new, and posting both a studio track and an “unplugged” version from our practice a few weeks ago.

Hiding

By Lisa Rein and Ron Taylor

There isn’t really a story that goes with this song. It’s about reaching one’s full potential.
I used to not be able to sing it without tearing up a little. (I actually have a lot of songs like that — like James and Marybeth…)
It’s another oldie but goodie. There will be newer stuff going up soon — and I’ve really been focusing on the new material lately. But I realize that all of these are new to you guys and so, when a friend mentioned how much he liked “Hiding” — and that I shouldn’t be — it reminded me to make this available to you.

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The Revolution Will Be MP3’d

There’s a revolution going on guys, and it starts today!
Musicians are going to stand up for their right to use the Internet to promote their music.
Listeners are going to stand up for their right to not be spied on and treated as criminals for sharing that music.
Ready, set….GO!
Here’s an awesome MP3 that will serve nicely as its theme song (courtesy of Zug):
RIAA Phone Call

Here’s more information about it
.
(Thanks, Jason.)
Lyrics:
well i recollect the days when music was free
you could tape from the radio, burn a CD
now the RIAA wants to know about me
my address, my number, my ISP
yo, bitches, ain’t we still got privacy?
why the president be lettin’ you spy on me
how many tricks they gonna be lettin you try on me?
trying to be spying on my MP3s
But you protect YOUR corporate privacy
Keep your phone number hidden from the bourgeoisie
Your customers have to play hide and seek
So here’s the number to call if you disagree
775-0101
775-0101
202-775-0101
why’s the RIAA starting litigations
the cops should be looking for the real perpetrations
the killers, the racists, the rapists
‘stead of fucking with us for saving to our hard disk
raise your middle finger if you feel me loc
these fucking subpoenas are a fucking joke
leave us alone, throw us a bone
like i did with your mom that time at your home
There’s NO SUCH THING as bad publicity
Even if you giving it out for free
So join us in the twenty-first century
Where we find our new songs on MP3s
Embrace the new technologies
Grokster, Kazaa, and P2P
So call this number now, and help them see
And if you call from work, your call is free!
775-0101
775-0101
202-775-0101
202 is the area code and we’re dialin’
775 and then we be smilin’
0101-1-cary sherman
well isn’t this fun it’s ZUG.com
you know, they’ve never been fair to the bands.
now the riaa takes a stand?
can’t believe we’re getting preached to by the man
so what’s the plan, stan? I’ve got a short attention span.
they’ve gotta change up the music industry
make it all available on MP3
listen to people like you and me
and make us wanna pay a monthly fee
this song is now my lyrical catastrophe
go ahead and grab it, it’s completely free
aint gotta pay a dime to listen to me
So share this song and fuck the industry