I cannot trust computer code I am not permitted to read.
There is no legitimate reason not to allow the owners of voting machines to read every last bit of the code loaded onto any computer used to register or tally votes.
Otherwise, paper ballots, hand counted.
For a couple of years EUGLUG was able to get SuSE to send us remaindered boxed sets to hand out at the Community Village in the Oregon Country Fair, one release earlier than what was then current. A good deal, hardcopy manuals and the just past state of the art SuSE CD distros to pass out to random hippies.
In 2004 we went back to burning our own, Somebody in Oakland dropped the ball during the merger (likely the Oakland office closed).
Last summer and this we got Ubuntu, as many as we wished.
Well, we're happy. Cold day in Hell before I'll mention this on their site, though.
The whole point of Free Software is to distribute the knowledge of how to make a computer work to computer users.
When people disagree about how to use computers, they may split whatever organization they have to do this a different way,
Both sides of a fork win by involving new users in whatever obsessions they share.
It's all a plot, well, a bunch of plots really, to make users, not all, but enough, into developers.
Whether you're speaking of software, news sites, blogs, email lists, or LUGs, with Open Source forks are more often than not good things for Free Software, including the fork between Free Software and Open Source.
Any fork produces new developers, and more ways of doing neat things.
What I don't understand is why there are no Open Office User Groups.
If it's no longer a democraracy, if we cannot trust that our votes are counted as cast, why are we still paying taxes? Oh, right, those nasty jackbooted thugs at the IRS.
It's not up to voters to prove elections dishonest, it's up to elections officials to prove elections honest, else the citizenry is likely to stop voting (and paying taxes).
It's been 100 Years since 1976? Who'd o' thunk it?
Before that, to register a copyright was a bit harder, you needed to provide a copy of the work to the Library of Congress, for instance.
The centralized corporate media have been challenged and occasionally lost credibility to the mass of Free Presses found (and run by) any computer attached to the internet.
It is a bit hard to maintan credibillity when you don't notice the documentation you reproduced as from 1972 was likely the product of Microsoft Word.
Despite nostalgia for the old polling station gathering, I appreciate being encouraged to vote at my convenience. I work at night, and before Oregon progressed to vote-by-mail I typically cast a zombie ballot after working overnight.
True. That doesn't make them wrong, however. If the elections are rigged, why should anyone but than God-fearing Christians vote? (Come to that, why should Christians vote?)
So after watching Ashcroft abuse the DMCA, Kerry pushed USA-PATRIOT, then was surprised that Ashcroft abuses it? This is the guy criticizing Bush for lack of foresight?
I have already voted, against any candidate from any party which endorsed the DMCA except for those who explicitly renounce their party's endorsement of the DMCA. Remarkably, few Democrats, and no Republicans pass that test. Republicans exhibit much less independence from their party leadership. It doesn't help that the war on Iraq, the war on drugs, USA-PATRIOT and a few other issues I want repealed had and have bi-partisan leadership support. My vote is based on issues that matter to me. Why should that not be?
Mr. McCullough fails to note that Dmitri Sklyarov was successfully imprisoned by Ashcroft for months, in custody from Indiana to California, although ultimately released without charge. Appropriately, Elcomsoft was ultimately deemed the owner of the offending copyrights, sued by Ashcroft and exonerated in US Federal Court.
When it comes time to close a bank account,, when withdrawing your money, should the teller request a reason, cite the bank's use of Diebold emblazoned ATMs and/or vaults, and your reluctance to endorse anyone using Diebold devices because of Diebold's reputation with election equipment.
Ummm...Don't bother if the bank doesn't actually use Diebold.
Nader is one of three candidates for President on the Oregon ballot I found acceptable (the others are Cobb or Badnarik) by my criteria.
That said, Bill Bradbury cast doubt on the acceptability of all Democrats into my mind by removing Nader from the ballot on what I regard as spurious grounds, and when lacking information other than party affiliation, I voted against most Democrats (more often than not benefitting Libertarians' vote counts).
Oregon is vote-by-mail and the ballots should have arrived in voters' mailboxes late last week, to be returned by November second.
Nobody who favors the Digital Millenium Copyright Act gets my vote.
Nobody who favors USA-PATRIOT gets my vote.
Nobody who favors the war on Iraq gets my vote.
Nader not being on my ballot, Cobb gets my vote. Because Democrats denied Nader his spot on the ballot, the Libertarians picked up a few votes form me for offices lower on the ballot, because they're not Democrats.
By what definition is Richard M Daley Jr. (or his late father) "left"? Is conservativism a purely Republican vice now, not allowed for Democrats? (Not allowed by whom?) Neither are all conservatives Republican nor nearly all to the left of Bush Democrats.
Unless all source code on any voting device is available for examining and compiling by any requesting voter, I think any voter is justified in mistrusting the enumeration of votes.
Unless the ballots are available for re-examination, there is no way of determining that the voters actually voted as reported.
The rumor that all votes are rigged can only be contradicted empirically, by keeping the electoral process in the open, not hidden away behind Intrellectual Property secrecy.
Slashdot Mirror
How does any part of an elections tally become a trade secret, anyway?
I cannot trust computer code I am not permitted to read.
There is no legitimate reason not to allow the owners of voting machines to read every last bit of the code loaded onto any computer used to register or tally votes.
Otherwise, paper ballots, hand counted.
For a couple of years EUGLUG was able to get SuSE to send us remaindered boxed sets to hand out at the Community Village in the Oregon Country Fair, one release earlier than what was then current. A good deal, hardcopy manuals and the just past state of the art SuSE CD distros to pass out to random hippies.
In 2004 we went back to burning our own, Somebody in Oakland dropped the ball during the merger (likely the Oakland office closed).
Last summer and this we got Ubuntu, as many as we wished.
Well, we're happy. Cold day in Hell before I'll mention this on their site, though.
The whole point of Free Software is to distribute the knowledge of how to make a computer work to computer users.
When people disagree about how to use computers, they may split whatever organization they have to do this a different way,
Both sides of a fork win by involving new users in whatever obsessions they share.
It's all a plot, well, a bunch of plots really, to make users, not all, but enough, into developers.
Whether you're speaking of software, news sites, blogs, email lists, or LUGs, with Open Source forks are more often than not good things for Free Software, including the fork between Free Software and Open Source.
Any fork produces new developers, and more ways of doing neat things.
What I don't understand is why there are no Open Office User Groups.
So, I take it that Highlanders are exempt?
Or are kilts just for dress uniforms?
Heinous news is released late on a Friday so that American reporters may be scooped by the BBC.
If it's no longer a democraracy, if we cannot trust that our votes are counted as cast, why are we still paying taxes? Oh, right, those nasty jackbooted thugs at the IRS.
It's not up to voters to prove elections dishonest, it's up to elections officials to prove elections honest, else the citizenry is likely to stop voting (and paying taxes).
It's been 100 Years since 1976? Who'd o' thunk it?
Before that, to register a copyright was a bit harder, you needed to provide a copy of the work to the Library of Congress, for instance.
When was the latest extradition of an Australian for theft?
The centralized corporate media have been challenged and occasionally lost credibility to the mass of Free Presses found (and run by) any computer attached to the internet.
It is a bit hard to maintan credibillity when you don't notice the documentation you reproduced as from 1972 was likely the product of Microsoft Word.
Intellectual Property is a novel idea, wasn't even formulated until the Paris and Berne conventions of 1883 or so.
Despite nostalgia for the old polling station gathering, I appreciate being encouraged to vote at my convenience. I work at night, and before Oregon progressed to vote-by-mail I typically cast a zombie ballot after working overnight.
Nobody remembers Dmitri Sklyarov?
That doesn't make them wrong, however. If the elections are rigged, why should anyone but than God-fearing Christians vote?
(Come to that, why should Christians vote?)
Diebold (and Sequoia & suchl) must provide us with proof that the above is, indeed, an unsubstantiated allegation.
It determined my vote.
Because Kerry voted for the DMCA (and Bush supports it) I voted Green.
Are slashdot voters lockstep partisans, if not how are your votes split? Just curious...
So after watching Ashcroft abuse the DMCA, Kerry pushed USA-PATRIOT, then was surprised that Ashcroft abuses it?
This is the guy criticizing Bush for lack of foresight?
I have already voted, against any candidate from any party which endorsed the DMCA except for those who explicitly renounce their party's endorsement of the DMCA.
Remarkably, few Democrats, and no Republicans pass that test. Republicans exhibit much less independence from their party leadership.
It doesn't help that the war on Iraq, the war on drugs, USA-PATRIOT and a few other issues I want repealed had and have bi-partisan leadership support.
My vote is based on issues that matter to me. Why should that not be?
Mr. McCullough fails to note that Dmitri Sklyarov was successfully imprisoned by Ashcroft for months, in custody from Indiana to California, although ultimately released without charge. Appropriately, Elcomsoft was ultimately deemed the owner of the offending copyrights, sued by Ashcroft and exonerated in US Federal Court.
Ummm...Don't bother if the bank doesn't actually use Diebold.
I wonder if Diebold has considered people who will change banks becauses they have Diebold emblazoned on their vaults and ATMs. I did.
That said, Bill Bradbury cast doubt on the acceptability of all Democrats into my mind by removing Nader from the ballot on what I regard as spurious grounds, and when lacking information other than party affiliation, I voted against most Democrats (more often than not benefitting Libertarians' vote counts).
Oregon is vote-by-mail and the ballots should have arrived in voters' mailboxes late last week, to be returned by November second.
Nobody who favors the Digital Millenium Copyright Act gets my vote.
Nobody who favors USA-PATRIOT gets my vote.
Nobody who favors the war on Iraq gets my vote.
Nader not being on my ballot, Cobb gets my vote. Because Democrats denied Nader his spot on the ballot, the Libertarians picked up a few votes form me for offices lower on the ballot, because they're not Democrats.
Unless all source code on any voting device is available for examining and compiling by any requesting voter, I think any voter is justified in mistrusting the enumeration of votes.
Unless the ballots are available for re-examination, there is no way of determining that the voters actually voted as reported.
The rumor that all votes are rigged can only be contradicted empirically, by keeping the electoral process in the open, not hidden away behind Intrellectual Property secrecy.