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Gator CPO at the Department of Homeland Security
pcidevel writes "D. Reed Freeman, the "Chief Privacy Officer" of Claria Networks (formerly Gator), the creators of the pervasive spyware package GAIN, has been appointed to the Department of Homeland Security's "Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee"."
Really. Spyware? You dont read ALL the license agreement?
Jeez, with a headline like that I thought I was on the Onion for a second there...
In other news, Dr. Jack Kevorkian has been appointed National Director of Health and Human Services, Kenneth Lay was appointed Director of the Treasury and Bill Gates was appointed CIO of the whole Federal Government.
M
Who is responsible for this appointment? This is just ... wow.
Isn't this like putting a fox in charge of the security for a henhouse?
Honestly... DHS doesn't need to be worrying about this sort of tripe- they've got bigger fish to fry. Why in the HELL are they bothering with this when the things they're doing right at the moment wouldn't have done a damn thing to prevent 9/11 from occuring and wouldn't prevent a repeat?
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Ex-GAIN employees in the "Integrity Advisory Committee"??? That's like Richard Stallman working for the Patent Office!
Governor of New Jersey to head Environmental Protection Agency
Oh, wait...
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
Who knows more about data privacy than somebody who has compromised the privacy of millions?
=\/\/= If it's too loud, turn it down.
"Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee"
"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
no, there are some times when you want things done righ the first time, like an surgeon operating, or food testing, or sex...
If this is for real (and I do trust Salon) this falls into the O.M.F.G. category. Someone slap me.
I recently listened to a documentary on CBC radio about pervasive irony in today's world. It was an interesting program because they were suggesting that the political scene these days is like a living satire. It's just too weird... and this news about a spyware marketer being appointed to a privacy committee is just insane. I see four fingers!
I miss those heady days of yore, when there was still room for more outrage in my life. When I could stil be surprised by new examples of indifference, incompetence, and outright evil.
These days, I am no longer surprised at no longer being surprised by the ghastly things this Administration routinely does.
the Administration thinks that keeping her out of the marketplace is the best thing they can do for data privacy. Or maybe this is a dream.
Salon.com requires a soul-sucking registration link.
Here's CNET News.com's version of the story:
Adware maker joins federal privacy board
Published: February 23, 2005, 5:19 PM PST
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
TrackBack Print E-mail TalkBack
An executive from Claria, formerly called Gator, will be one of 20 members of the committee, the department said Wednesday.
"This committee will provide the department with important recommendations on how to further the department's mission while protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information of citizens and visitors of the United States," Nuala O'Connor Kelly, the department's chief privacy officer, said in a statement.
Claria bundles its pop-up advertising software with ad-supported networks such as Kazaa. Recently, the privately held company has been trying to seek credibility by following stricter privacy guidelines and offering behavioral profiling services to its partners.
In an e-mail message to CNET News.com, Kelly defended the inclusion of a Claria representative on the committee. "I am proud of, supportive of and grateful for those individuals in the public and private sector who are willing to take on the hard tasks, fight the good fight, and who surprise us with creative, fresh and unconventional thinking, and who make change where change is needed through their hard work and personal dedication," Kelly said.
In the past, Claria's pop-up ad software has riled some users who claimed it was annoying, installed without permission, and not easy to delete. Publishers also were irked about pop-up ads for a rival's product appearing next to their own Web sites. Catalog retailer L.L. Bean sued Gator for alleged trademark infringement.
Claria's representative on the Homeland Security privacy board is company Vice President D. Reed Freeman, a former Federal Trade Commission staff attorney. Other members include executives from Intel, Computer Associates International, IBM, Oracle and the Cato Institute.
Kelly said Freeman will "bring his courage and conviction to the board, and will contribute productively--and constructively--to the board's and the public's dialogue on privacy and homeland security."
The committee is tasked with providing "external expert advice to the secretary and the chief privacy officer on programmatic, policy, operational and technological issues that affect privacy, data integrity and data interoperability."
In February 2003, Gator settled a high-profile case brought by The Washington Post, The New York Times, Dow Jones and other media companies. Terms of that deal were quiet, but Claria appears to have stopped delivering pop-ups to those publishers' sites.
Claria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNET News.com's Stefanie Olsen contributed to this report.
Just another "DOJ fascist authoritarian totalitarian bootlicker" -- Zeio
I will NEVER trust my computer to keep anything safe. I can see homeland security buying Google just to do data mining.
Actually, "Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee" sounds much more like Ministry of Truth.
A spyware company has a "chief privacy officer?!" What's next, a security-obssessed government that makes us less secure? Oh, wait...
Seriously, though, I can almost see the logic in this appointment. One thing spyware companies know is computer security. They defeat it all the time. I'm surprised the fine folks from Cool Web Search weren't appointed.
On the other hand, the more cynical side of me sees how reminiscent this is of early 20th century American politics, when the government appointed Big Business leaders to commitees on workers' rights. Money and connections will buy you anything.
All your base are belong to Claria.
StrayByte.Net
All I see posted are stupid remarks about how ironic this is... but nobody seems to want to do anything about it.
/. has enough people reading it to destroy the bandwidth of half the servers out there, but it looks like nobody is going to take this as a serious threat to privacy and call up their congressman or write a letter/email to major news networks, or anything else that will change things...
It's a sad day seeing this article exist, but it will be an even sadder day when 90% of these comments are scored "Funny" and we are doomed to sit idly by our world is taken away from us... thanks guys, i appreciate it.
What do you expect? George Tenet got a medal for being wrong about WMDs in Iraq; Paul Bremer got one for ignoring warnings about the Iraqi insurgency; and Condaleeza Rice got promoted for ignoring warnings about Al Qaeda and being wrong about Iraq. This administration rewards incompetence and duplicity while punishing competence and honesty.
"If it's real, then it gets more interesting the closer you examine it. If it's not real, just the opposite is true." -
April Fool's isn't for a few more weeks. The ed's need to check their calendars.
At least they're being up front about this. They back the companies that are screwing us out of our privacy over the consumers every chance they get. That's what they stand for.
As outrageous as this is, it's not nearly as bad as the prescription drug bill that prevents them from pushing the pharmaceutical companies for better prices.
I hope the story is big enough to be spun by the talk radio crowd. I'd love to hear how they'd defend it.
Mr freeman probably thinks he's arrived in heaven. he gets to keep on doing what he's best at, the spyware business, but this time it's for the government, so no more hassles from all those pathetic anti-spyware whiners.
How about this instead, who better to fullfill that role at Homeland Security, after all they want to invade the privacy of as many people as possible and get away with it. This nasty fellow has already managed to do just that at a private company, just imagine what he will be able to achieve working for that particular government agency.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
The D.H.S.'s own "chief privacy officer" used to work for DoubleClick.
They hired a deputy CIO who did not have a degree. More accurately she had a degree from on a non accredited diploma mill check it out it looks like a church.
Normally I'd have no problems with a deputy CIO not having a degree but apparently the dept of homeland security did not check out their deputy CIO carefully enough and now they had to "put her on leave".
Now we find out they are putting the fox in charge of the hen house.
Something is seriously askew at this dept. How can we trust these guys to safeguard our country when they have shown such awful judgement?
evil is as evil does
Bonzi Buddy is soon to be carved into Mt. Rushmore.
is the mandate of "Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee" is keeping this information from the public, not protecting the public's information.
This might almost make sense if this guy had served in a technical capacity with Claria/Gator, but here's his job description, from a press-release they put out upon hiring him:
Claria Corporation, www.claria.com, today announced that D. Reed Freeman, Jr. will assume the position of Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs for the company. Mr. Freeman, a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, will spearhead Claria's continued commitment to industry-leading online advertising privacy practices. He will also represent Claria's interests both in Washington and internationally, coordinating Claria's efforts on policy matters.
In other words, he's a lobbyist. He knows fuck all about the inner workings of spyware software, and this isn't at all analogous to hiring an ex-hacker to evaluate your security.
Yeah, uh...
My suggestions:
Hannibal Lecter for the national food and agriculture comission.
Osama Bin Laden for air transport dept.
Saddam Hussein for human rights jury.
Michael Jackson for child abuse prevention network CEO.
And of course Bill Gates for president of ISO.
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
Mr. Osamma Bin Ladin is appointed the head of the homeland defence department.... I mean, who better to tell us how a terrorist thinks?
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
...who this guy actually is:
http://profs.lp.findlaw.com/privacy/freeman.html
Looks like this guy is a well established lawyer with alot of FTC connections. He also specializes in privacy law, which means his job is to figure out every loophole available to help his clients exploit it thouroughly. ;)
- sigs are stupid
A former Corporate data gatherer of consumer information being appointed to "Data Privacy" Czar?
Why, that would be like appointing a Torture Advocate to Attorney General...oh wait...Alberto Gonazales
That would be iike appointing a person that misadvised a Nation to start a war that broke down International Relations to a postion that requires her to Strengthen International Relations...oh wait...Condeleeza Rice
That would be like having a former CEO of company that derives it's revenue from war be elected to a political office that can Strongly influence War Power making decisions...oh wait...Dick Cheney
To answer your question, no they aren't shitting you. They are shitting ON you. All of us, actually.
Authority questions you. Return the favor.
Unfortunately, I think quite a lot of patent applications cover ideas that any expert can think of in three hours but were never used before because no one apart from the applicant bothered to use them, which means they probably have no prior art. A patent examiner cannot do much more than an ordinary citizen when the problem lies in the law itself rather than its enforcement.
Members appointed for the inaugural term of the DHS Privacy Advisory Committee are:
Joseph Alhadeff, Vice President and Chief Privacy Officer, Oracle Corporation, Washington, DC
Ramon Barquin, President, Barquin International, Bethesda, MD
J. Howard Beales, Associate Professor, The George Washington University, Arlington, VA
D. Reed Freeman, Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President, Claria Corporation, Arlington, VA
James W. Harper, Editor/Executive Director, Privacilla.org & Director of Information Policy Studies, Cato Institute, Washington, DC
Kirk Herath, Chief Privacy Officer & Associate General Counsel, Nationwide, Columbus, OH
David A. Hoffman, Group Counsel and Director of Privacy, Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, OR
Lance Hoffman, Distinguished Research Professor, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
Tara Lemmey, Chief Executive Officer, Lens Ventures, San Francisco, CA
Joseph Leo, Vice President, SAIC, Vienna, VA
John Marsh, Distinguished Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law, Winchester, VA
Joanne McNabb, Chief, Office of Privacy Protection, California Department of Consumer Affairs, Sacramento, CA
Charles Palmer, Department Group Manager, Security, Networking & Privacy, IBM Corporation, Yorktown Heights, NY
Richard Purcell, Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Privacy Group, Nordland, WA
Paul Samuel Rosenzweig, Senior Legal Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC
John Thomas Sabo, Manager, Security, Privacy, and Trust Initiatives, Computer Associates, Herndon, VA
James Sheehan, General Counsel, Milton Hershey School, Hershey, PA
Lisa Sotto, Partner, Head of Regulatory Privacy & Information Management Practice Group, Hunton & Williams, New York, NY
Michael Turner, President and Senior Scholar, Information Policy Institute, New York, NY
Samuel Wright, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, Cendant Corporation, Washington, DC
I can't say I like Freeman being on the committee, but a quick glance at the rest of the list makes me feel a lot better.
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
This is what you get for not rioting in the streets when they announced that companies like Diebold were 'counting' your stinking votes.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
America is f*ked if smart people dont stand up for their country.
Very stupid people are calling the shots
"...even though the original Gator software can be considered one of the original plague carriers of the spyware blight -- be careful about calling it that. The company has repeatedly threatened its critics with libel lawsuits for dubbing it "spyware.""
Of course Gator isn't "spyware!!!" It is a perfectly fine way of business. Excuse me, I'm off to break into homes, hide, and pop up out of nowhere to sell viagra and insurance. Maybe I'll bug some phones for marketing information while I'm there.
Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this: that you are dreadfully like other people. - James Russell Lowell
I get it. It's like when a company hires a black hat to help them figure out where the holes are so they can plug them...
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
I'm sure you'll appreciate the opportunity to abandon 'community' for 'market', once you see the incredible opportunity it affords for profits! Besides, we have already managed the deal for you!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
And people wonder why HST blew his brains out.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
So, for those who would like to take the initiative to tell these fuckers something: Email: privacy@dhs.gov Phone: 202-772-9848 Fax: 202-772-5036 It might matter, it might not. But writing an email and picking up the phone is easy as hell. I'll take both, thank you.
Homeland Security Launches Privacy Integration Initiative
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: Donald Tighe, 202-282-8010
February 24, 2005
The Department of Homeland Security today announced new software to enable citizens to protect their personal data. The software, provided by a committe member's company, will enable personal information security by centralised all your information, including browsing habits, emails, credit card numbers, documents, spreadsheets and those jpgs of your ex you keep meaning to put on flashyourrack in one central location.
The software will also protect you from those mean advertisers who advertise things you shouldn't see like cheap generic drugs, stores other than Walmart and communist computer operating systems by replacing those ads with good old american advertising, including links to your local church Landover Baptist.
Installation of this protection software will become mandatory under the new CAN-PRIVACY act introduced by big business^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hyour benevolant rulers.
"I am proud of, supportive of and grateful for those individuals in the public and private sector who are willing to take on the hard tasks, fight the good fight, and who surprise us with creative, fresh and unconventional thinking, and who make change where change is needed through their hard work and personal dedication," Kelly said. Kelly said Freeman will "bring his courage and conviction to the board, and will contribute productively--and constructively--to the board's and the public's dialogue on privacy and homeland security."
What I find most outrageous is such talk typical of this administration to lie, and lie, and lie; So now a software that installed itself without permission, was not easy to delete, and annoyed the hell out of people is something to be praised for and proud of as testimony of "courage and conviction", "willingness to take on the hard tasks", "willingness to fight the good fight", "creative, fresh and unconventional thinking"?
What about thieves? They're pretty much the same; are we going to admire trespassers and looters?
Damn this kleptocracy; damn it!
Why it makes perfect sense.
its all done for your own good! for freedom!
actual freedom may not be exactly as shown. privacy not included.
air and light and time and space
Actually, let's get technical. It's one fox, along with a team of hens guarding the henhouse.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
...And George W. Bush for president of the USA.
Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
I will grant the right of Slaon to supply content under terms of their own choosing. I will grant that if we dislike those terms we are free to go elsewhere instead - as in fact I do.
However I do not enjoy registration pages, and see no reason I should be required to enjoy them. Nor do I see any reason why any of us should be required or even expected to approve of a business model that is based upon supplying personal information to spammers, mass-marketers and other spies.
The issue of "hyper rich media congolmerates" is a red herring. there are many sites that provide qualiy content without requiring registration. Others (the New York Times springs to mind) undoubtedly fall into that cateory and yet still collect such information. I do wonder why anyone would spread such FUD. I can only assume that given the topic of the OP, the shills and astroturfers are out in force today.
To summarise: I don't like registration screens, I am never going to like registration screens, and I shall continue to publicly disapprove of them as I see fit.
Maybe you should learn to deal with it.
Don't let THEM immanentize the Eschaton!
Yeah, great comeback. You sure showed him!
GAIN acually happens to be one of the less malevolent pieces of adware. It does not install itself, it doesn't do pop-ups, it doesn't hijack your machine. It's a legit piece of advertising that software authors use to make money off their programs. (Kazaa for example) If you don't want it, read your EULA's before installing those free screen savers.
Don't take life so seriously. No one makes it out alive.
And Richard Stallman for the head of USPTO.
So which of his statements isn't true (or is nonsense) then?
Mail room, or something, at DHLS. Last place anyone would find him, it seems.
The resume's for our top leaders look something like this: George W. Bush: Served one term as the THIRD most powerful man in Texas politics and his dad was president..............elected president Dick Cheney: Former CEO and adviser during the NIXION years......elected vice president Personally I'd think these two are alittle more of a worry than them letting the a spyware guru into office. You're not going to change the minds of your politicans, how about you smack the hell out of the people who voted for Bush????? If 50% of the people think he's qualified to be president than I'm willing to bet that we have bigger problems than who he's appointing.
No, no, this is the attitude they want you to have. Apathy. The basic strategy is simple: scare and discourage. Scare the people who don't think. Discourage the people who do. The more apathetic the thinking people get, the farther they can stretch the bucks they spend to lead the sheep to the slaughterhouse.
At the very least, stand up and make them spend a little more money and work a little harder. Don't whine, find a way to stick a thumb in their eye when they're leading you to the gallows.
The great thing about money is that it gets fast results. But it is not invincible. Sometimes, the people will just stop believing. It may take time, but, the opinion manufacturers know it will take much longer if they can expunge the kernels of doubt from the population -- kernels around which opposition can crystalize.
We, few, we band of brothers. If you're the kind of person who is daydreaming about running to Canada, I don't want you on my side in this fight.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
In other words, he's a lawyer. Presumably, his job was to either keep them from getting sued, at which he failed, or sue anyone who libels them, which seems to have succeeded. At least Homeland Security has Sovereign Immunity to fall back on.
I don't like registration screens either, but I've never had to register to read Salon ... I just have to look at an ad for 20 seconds then I get to read all I want on their site for free.
Have you ever even gone to Salon.com?
Note to Mods: NOT A FLAME, NOT A TROLL!!!!!!
Mod1: Hey Phil, you see that post from the guy telling Americans to rise up?
Mod2: Yeah, I was just about to mark it "Flamebait."
Mod1: And I was gonna mark it "Troll." But check it out: it says "Note to Mods: NOT A FLAME, NOT A TROLL!!!!!!"
Mod2: Yeah, in all caps.
Mod1: And with no less than six exclamation points.
Mod2: And when you've been on the internets as long as we have, you know that anyone who uses all caps and multiple exclamation points just has to be sincere.
Mod1: You certainly do, Phil.
Mod2: I'm marking this one "Informative."
Mod1: And I'm marking it "Insightful."
Mod2: It's a good thing he told us how to moderate his own post, or we could have made a huge mistake.
Mod1: You're certainly right about that, Phil.
Mod2: I think I'll start using heroin.
Mod1: Courtney Love said it makes you cool and moody.
Mod2: She certainly did. (Dies of overdose.)
I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
For instance... People with Philosophy degrees are often hired as "Ethicists" for corporations. Their job is to interpret ethics for the company. In some cases, this means keeping the company on the right side of the line. However, for some companies, it simply means finding ways to justify what the company wants to do to begin with. Guidance, or spin.
So, take a look at the Department of Homeland Security. Do you think this is the kind of honest-natured ministry that wants to make sure it does the right thing regarding our privacy? Or the kind of Orwellian agency that wants to have a way to say it respects privacy, and does whatever it wants?
Guidance, or spin?
This guy is there to help teach the feds how to lie to us about how much our privacy is respected in this country. All of the sudden, it makes sense.
My Photography - http://ian-x.com
The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
No the Secret Service will stop you if you try that.
Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
Not customer, consumer. A customer expects service. A consumer just devourers whatever is shoved down his throat.
Here is what I sent mine...
/ gator/index.html?source=RSS on how D. Reed Freeman, the "Chief Privacy Officer" of Claria Networks (formerly Gator), the creators of the pervasive spyware package GAIN, has been appointed to the Department of Homeland Security's "Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee".
Dear Congressman Pearce;
I came across the article at http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2005/02/23
I find this of extreme concern for the security of the citizens of our country. It is also a concern that the 'privacy officer' for the DHS is a former minion of Doubleclick which is also a spyware company. This is like appointing David Duke to a committee on minority rights, Mike Tyson appointed to a committee on womans right, Michael Jackson appointed to a committee on childrens rights, or the proverbial fox being in charge of the henhouse. Can we now expect DHS to craft sofware that installs itself on our machines without or knowledge? Can we expect our data privacy to be safe from unlawfull government search? This is a real and present concern. The last thing the citizenry needs is for people with a known track record of being involved in privacy violations to be in such positions. The very fact that these people are where they are now within the DHS points to the process being broken, and perhaps it can also be said that the DHS has been infiltrated by persons without the citizens best interests in mind. In advance, your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
The 2nd amendment was intended to provide arms for State Militia. The States had the right to leave the Union and they had the right have State run armies to protect us from the Federal Government. Lincoln's illegal war changed that.
Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
Seriously, this country is so fucked. There are so many people, mostly pretty extreme religious folk, who listen to anything Bush says as long as he sprinkles his speaches with the words "God," "Faith," etc. Oh, and don't forget, "crusade!"
It doesn't matter that he's lied. It doesn't matter that the VP's former company is given illegal no-bid contracts. It doesn't matter that the new AG is a supports the use of torture. There is nothing they can do that is evil enough to make the religious right turn away.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Of course, the anti-spyware laws will now die before coming to a vote, as spyware is the new way to protect our safety.
Now I understand what the government meant by increasing the data they gather.
Linux probably WILL become illegal soon, as it's very nature means you could remove the government back doors if you wanted to.
I'm not sure The Shrub could have come up with a more effective way of announcing what he thinks of privacy concerns without installing two way TV sets in every home and declaring himself the be our big brother.
Crap.
Time to move to Canada.
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
It's funny. Geeks will donate $300,000 to advertise thier web browser... But they can't organize a lobbying group to represent them in washington. Sure, the EFF tries to do good things, but mostly after there is a problem. The FSF only tries to stay afloat and stop GPL violators. Where is the free software political action in America? The money is there.
If all the Slashdot readers called or filled out a form, we might make a difference. Even if nothing changes, at least DHS will know people are aware of this ridiculous act.
From the FA, it is made clear that this guy is just one of twenty people appointed to be on a committee.
Hopefully it will be an opportunity for the bastard to be allowed just enough rope to hang himself. In other words, the more visible he is while being an idiot, the more people know he is an idiot.
Contact your elected representatives
Doesn't this sound more like Homeland Security trying to break into everyone's computer to spy on possible "terrorist" activities using spyware. This may sound like nice fit maybe because of the knowledge of computer vulnerabilities that Freeman knows privacy. But that's the thing -- he knows privacy, and how to get around them.
We "bash" Bush because he is doing a bad job as a president. Unfortunately, a large portion of the populous is still ignorant of the facts, so he got reelected, but pointing out where the government goes wrong is still an important duty, not just during election time. This has nothing to do with "my guy lost"; this has to do with the fact that truth and liberty lost in the 2004 election.
Here's hoping they make a come back.
"You call it a new way of thinking; I call it regression to ignorance!" -- Operation Ivy
These guys aren't liberal, they're not politicians, and nobody really knows what the majority of the population agrees with, so don't spout of as if you do.
Notice that agreement from the majority of the voting population is not the same as the population in general. Besides that, it is far more respectful to have your own opinions and actually base them on facts, even if they have been known for a while, than to preach your blinded, pseudo-conservative, distracted, herd mentality.
silly ac. To suggest that past events have no affect on the future...
You are checking your backups, aren't you?
The Ukraine?
I have news for you. The Ukraine election was rigged by the US to put its puppet in charge to further its goals of forcing Russia and China back into a Cold War with the US.
No, I'm not joking. Read up on the Ukrainian challenger and who his supporters were and their connections to the US and Russian oligarchs.
There is NOTHING US citizens can do about the US government - unless they're prepared to pick up a gun - which they're not because they're too brainwashed and submissive after two centuries of bullshit about "American democracy". The state is the state and this is the way all states behave.
You want to do something about it. Advance the rate of technological progress - especially nanotech - so I can obtain the tools I need to provide a Final Solution to these morons.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
I wouldn't mind having any long-run successful CEO like Bill Gates become president. I do however mind having an unsuccesful CEO as the current president.
$8.95/mo web hosting
Why aren't you responding to any of the comments to your post? Instead, your Bush-loving friends mod people -1 flamebait for pointing out things that are unpleasant to be faced with?
Clever signature text goes here.
Like the other respondant pointed out, PV isn't practical for the Presidency, and I never liked how it takes the power to select individual representatives away from voters. You vote for a party, not a person, and the party gets to select which person goes in, even you think that particular person is a scumbag. So I'm sure it works fine for parliamentary systems, but it wouldn't here.
Instant run-off voting, on the other hand, might instantly cure the worst of what ails our system. The two-party duopoly is the source of almost all things bad, and, together with winner-take-all electoral votes, it guarantees that no 3rd party will ever win the Presidency. IRV turns the system on its head by eliminating the fear of "throwing away your vote". It would break the duopoly, and make the system much more fluid again. And since voting rules are defined state-by-state, there's at least a snowball's chance in hell of getting a few states to try it.
That's bullshit that YOU get modded flame and the dickhead that got personal with me didn't. Thanks for steppin up anyway.
Authority questions you. Return the favor.