tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post4564148385963645809..comments2024-03-18T17:09:55.964-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Attention henchmen! Voting machines and other flawed conspiraciesDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34592369610115129962016-03-07T00:22:41.454-08:002016-03-07T00:22:41.454-08:00The general accusation used for vote buying isn...The general accusation used for vote buying isn't the one where welfare recipients are picked up off the street. It is the one where union organizers tap their membership to vote more than once. Such voters aren't likely to sell-out the conspiricists because they face possible retaliation from other members who can be given detailed personal information about the informants. There is historical precedent for this. It doesn't take a great imagination to construct a similar conspiracy for the other side. <a href="http://www.hubnames.com/home-kitchen/flex-seal-reviews/" rel="nofollow">flex seal reviews</a><br>Nick Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05531452856970615578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7461551500480951022013-10-15T06:16:21.787-07:002013-10-15T06:16:21.787-07:00When I red this context, I came aware with the vot...When I red this context, I came aware with the <a href="http://www.votingclickers.com/" rel="nofollow">voting handsets</a> availability of the narrator's firm which could deliver the advanced technology based devices at much effective conditions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10779195583830951828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25108381265734924362012-11-03T11:11:23.225-07:002012-11-03T11:11:23.225-07:00onward
onward<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-58320382344548452972012-11-03T07:57:21.459-07:002012-11-03T07:57:21.459-07:00BTW, David, I wanted to comment on your point of r...BTW, David, I wanted to comment on your point of random statistical sampling of election results. This is something I definitely recommend where possible. What I wonder is how to select a random precinct in such a manner as most would believe is truly random?<br /><br />I have toyed with this thought experiment and have considered public dart boards or the sort of machines used for lotteries (the "ping pong ball" blower) or having a select audience throw slips of paper in a can, rolling dice, and pulling that number of slips, multiplying them, rounding the result - ugh; think I prefer the dart board or lottery-machine...<br /><br />The point being that the public has no idea how to choose something randomly, and a bogus pre-selected precinct could be chosen under the rubric of "random" fairly easily. (see Ohio recount!)<br /><br />One does not trust the innumerate press to help, either.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43610681152108107812012-11-03T07:39:52.193-07:002012-11-03T07:39:52.193-07:00Look at Colorado's voting system now:
http://w...Look at Colorado's voting system now:<br />http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/8/82306.htmlJumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49444054952994545062012-11-03T07:14:17.936-07:002012-11-03T07:14:17.936-07:00Anon,
By "blind voting", I meant an auto...Anon,<br />By "blind voting", I meant an automatic strategy that is not based on the candidate/party/issues, or anything else. Just based on a pattern, always vote for the challenger, always vote out the incumbent. ("Blind" in the sense of "justice is blind", or "blinding" in a medical trial.)<br /><br />If you want to advocate a single-consecutive-term-limit, then you might have a good argument for a referendum. I might even vote for it, just to shake things up, assuming we shared the same continent. But as a <i>voting strategy</i>, any blind strategy can always be exploited by the dishonest.<br /><br /><i>"The Clinton years? [....] but does anyone remember when the bubble popped?</i><br /><br />Errr, yes, 1999/2000. Mild by ordinary recession standards, and barely noticeable by the standard of the-worst-recession-in-our-lifetimes. So what's your point? That you need a Clintonesque President, but with better regulation, and a Fed Chairman who wasn't a literal disciple of Ayn Rand. That's a careful strategy, one that requires you to pick amongst the current incumbents and available challengers for those most likely to achieve that goal, and to keep voting for it, against those opposed to your goal. It is not going to be achieved by saying "Right! New term! Everyone in, is out; everyone out, is in!"<br /><br />Or as someone else put it...<br /><br /><i>" Our influence over our governance is through how we choose that representation. "</i>Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90595031830557018412012-11-03T06:00:06.403-07:002012-11-03T06:00:06.403-07:00Most contemporary Democrats are the functional equ... Most contemporary Democrats are the functional equivalent of the "Country club" Republicans of yesteryear. Also embarked on the highway to hell, just not as far gone, with perhaps a chance to change direction, their GOP brethren have pretty much crossed the event horizon.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60755405230548898052012-11-03T03:15:01.147-07:002012-11-03T03:15:01.147-07:00So who is among the 1% who won the largess that wa...So who is among the 1% who won the largess that was the repleal of Glass-Steagall? Let's see:<br /><br />$878,500 is the average net worth of a congressional Democrat, 21 of them with over $10 million in assets, largely old money, largely investment income...<br /><br />$957,500 is the average net worth of a congressional Republican, 35 of them with over $10 million in assets, largely new money from the 90's tech economy, largely investment income...<br /><br />Not much difference here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36687721962647910892012-11-03T02:37:23.189-07:002012-11-03T02:37:23.189-07:00President Bill Clinton publicly declared "the...President Bill Clinton publicly declared "the Glass–Steagall law is no longer appropriate."<br /><br />"Money, power, and Wall Street: Transcript, Part 4, (quoted as "The Glass–Steagall law is no longer appropriate—")". PBS. April 24 and May 1, 2012; encore performance July 3, 2012. Transcript of Clinton remarks at Financial Modernization bill signing, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Newswire, November 12, 1999 (“It is true that the Glass-Steagall law is no longer appropriate to the economy in which we lived. It worked pretty well for the industrial economy, which was highly organized, much more centralized and much more nationalized than the one in which we operate today. But the world is very different.”)<br /><br />I have read the prior post already. In fact, I have been reading your blog for quite some time. Everything in that post points back to Glass-Steagall, which has been steadily undermined by both parties since the 60's.<br /><br />So let's look at things anew -- either the Democrats are strong and competent legistlators and Presidents protecting the future of the country like you wish to protray them, or they are incompetent patsies who roll over and do the evil bidding of the Republican party even when the Republicans are minority representatives or only hold the Presidency like you wish to protray them...<br /><br />Am I missing something here? Please understand that I am not defending the lunacy that has become the Republican party, but I have a difficult time seeing the Democratic party as the white knights who would save the world if those damned Republicans would just give them the chance...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37349088793213594232012-11-02T20:38:27.380-07:002012-11-02T20:38:27.380-07:00In fact, the effects of Glass-Steagal rescision ar...In fact, the effects of Glass-Steagal rescision are vastly over-rated. A few banks folded and were absorbed and the vast majority steadied themselves (with major -temporary public health and no depositors were harmed an iota.<br /><br />FAR worse was:<br /><br />1- removal of limits on hedge bets and derivatives. Both parties did sin on this. Again, led by the GOP<br /><br />2- unleashing foul mortgage practices --- ditto!<br /><br />3- crippling the SEC and other agencies. Entirely GOP doing.<br /><br />4- all the other stuff at:<br />http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2012/10/eight-causes-of-deficit-fiscal-cliff.htmlDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25411013476076048392012-11-02T20:26:57.149-07:002012-11-02T20:26:57.149-07:0030I will remind all of you that we are a represent...30I will remind all of you that we are a representative democracy. Our influence over our governance is through how we choose that representation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16278715470275590262012-11-02T20:20:58.775-07:002012-11-02T20:20:58.775-07:00I still don't understand, Dr. Brin. Rescindin...I still don't understand, Dr. Brin. Rescinding Glass-Steagall was Pandora's Box, the key to unleashing the whole sub-prime mortgage mixed banking bomb that nearly destroyed the US, and you dismiss the lack of a veto from Clinton as horse-trading? What rational President with the nation's best interest in mind would trade a horse for that? Must have been some horse.<br /><br />As for "send them all home" being blind voting, I read several national (of all political persuations) and foreign news papers (for a some-what unbiased look at the US) trying mightily to stay informed about the issues, local, state, national, and international facing me. I try mightily to be informed about who the people are who are both in office and running for office. Do you know what I find? Not much to go on. News articles on all sides that actually belong on the op-ed pages. Conspiracy theories, lies, innuendo. How informed are you about these people or is it good enough for you that they label themselves "democrat" or "libertarian", or anything but "republican"? How informed are you about the actual issues and about how to solve them?<br /><br />"Send them all home" is saying that I have seen many different people run this country and I have never seen any of them do anything to promote the future of this country. The Clinton years? A wild ride through a bubble economy based upon lax enforcement of corporate law and a lot of Enronesque voodoo accounting. Yeah, we paid down some of the debt off of the largess, but does anyone remember when the bubble popped? The underlying structural and legal problems that are draining the economy were still there. Has anyone of the new crop of contenders told you what these problems are and how they want to fix them? I haven't seen it from either party.<br /><br />What real choices are there right now and how do you get the message across that we want real change, not just a lot of smoke called hope, other than to change the people in office constantly until we get it.<br /><br />I can tell you that hanging onto the same Senator for 40+ years has not been the answer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43894022175106700232012-11-02T17:04:09.175-07:002012-11-02T17:04:09.175-07:00Doug S:
There's a problem that all would-be w...Doug S:<br /><i><br />There's a problem that all would-be whistleblowers will have to face: if they come forward, are they going to be believed?<br /><br />Example #1: Michael Connell<br /></i><br /><br />Seriously, how many times can enemies of the Republican Party die in plane crashes before suspicion sets in?LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10379148436616049782012-11-02T16:46:15.662-07:002012-11-02T16:46:15.662-07:00That's why my repeated emphasis was on the hen...That's why my repeated emphasis was on the henchman's need to start NOW taking recordings and evidence to use, if nothing else, for his own safety.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7353145035860544432012-11-02T16:44:45.714-07:002012-11-02T16:44:45.714-07:00"I did not know that the Nobel economic prize...<br />"I did not know that the Nobel economic prize was not a "true" Nobel prize, and was instead created as a vehicle to legitimize right wing economic theory... but it does sound quite typical, and suddenly explain many things that left me perplexed seeing the names of some that won that prize..."<br /><br />It started out that way but<br /><br />a. all the laureates regardless of their political affilation deserved it; and<br />b. if you look at recent years that bias has pretty much disappeared.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34451977186639224682012-11-02T16:03:36.206-07:002012-11-02T16:03:36.206-07:00There's a problem that all would-be whistleblo...There's a problem that all would-be whistleblowers will have to face: if they come forward, are they going to be believed?<br /><br />Example #1: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Connell" rel="nofollow">Michael Connell</a><br /><br />Example #2: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibel_Edmonds>Sibel Edmonds</a>Doug S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11918949543315280580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6000464828300406452012-11-02T15:53:36.880-07:002012-11-02T15:53:36.880-07:00"Your invocation of "health rights and m..."Your invocation of "health rights and medication rights" fascinates me. It is the unquestioning expansion of "rights" that has brought us to this pass. Instead of making policy by what is best for all we are enshrining as legally actionable some unattainable ideal." <br /><br />Funny.<br /><br />Australia has "rights" far in access of those in the US but we're not in anything like your mess. (Seriously, peopel here are screaming because now they'll only get a $3,000 government hand-out for their second and subseuent children. (As opposed to the previous $5,000 hand-out - introduced by a man who considered hismelf Australia's most right-winrg Prime Minister ever.)<br /><br />Maybe something else is at work in the US.<br /><br />Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68182595952754973692012-11-02T15:53:28.112-07:002012-11-02T15:53:28.112-07:00"Tacitus. the revolution in medicine is comin..."Tacitus. the revolution in medicine is coming. In five years you’ll unwarp a plate...."<br /><br />David I suppose you meant unwrap. Warp field tech seems a little farther off.<br /><br />And realistically, various cool tricks notwithstanding, when I retire in a few years I will still on my last day of work be trying to convince people with runny noses that they do not need broad spectrum antibiotics.<br /><br />TacitusTacitushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007086196578740689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47118182009620769352012-11-02T14:57:57.904-07:002012-11-02T14:57:57.904-07:00I wonder how long it took the Ethiopian kids to fi...I wonder how long it took the Ethiopian kids to find porn. And if giving kids access to computers without supervision makes the 'do gooders' guilty of showing porn to kids.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45486760907017020982012-11-02T13:53:55.714-07:002012-11-02T13:53:55.714-07:00Second link, article by Nicholas Negroponte,
http...Second link, article by Nicholas Negroponte,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/view/429206/emtech-preview-another-way-to-think-about-learning/" rel="nofollow">http://www.technologyreview.com/view/429206/emtech-preview-another-way-to-think-about-learning/</a><br /><br />[Not hard for a SF fan to see this becoming a new education paradigm in the west as well. An end to formal schooling, kids just use devices to self-learn, with access to self-selected peer groups (clubs) for special interest further learning.]<br /><br />[[Also not hard to imagine a dictator using this technology to brainwash kids to enforce his rule.]]Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72254354558273861732012-11-02T13:48:57.585-07:002012-11-02T13:48:57.585-07:00Robert,
Re: "Send them all home", and lo...Robert,<br />Re: "Send them all home", and lobbyists.<br />If, however, freshmen congressmen knew they stood almost no chance of reelection, many wouldn't bother to run for a second term. That frees them from having to spend 75% of their time raising money for their campaign, which dramatically reduces the power of lobbyists.<br /><br />[However, I consider all such "protest" votes to be nonsensical and any blind voting strategy to be self-destructive.]<br /><br />--<br /><br />Re: Johnny can't code, but Rahel can read.<br /><br />OLPC has been trying an experiment in child learning. They have left tablet computers with a village in Ethiopia, still in the packaging and with no instructions, then checked the logs to see if and how the computers were used by children.<br /><br /><i>"I thought the kids would play with the boxes. Within four minutes, one kid not only opened the box, found the on-off switch … powered it up. Within five days, they were using 47 apps per child, per day. Within two weeks, they were singing ABC songs in the village, and within five months, they had hacked Android. Some idiot in our organization or in the Media Lab had disabled the camera, and they figured out the camera, and had hacked Android."</i><br /><br />("Hacked Android" just meant that they had gotten into the settings to turn on desktop customisation, as well as unlock the camera. Not quite as hyperbolic, but impressive nonetheless.)<br /><br />[Two links broken over two posts because Blogger likes spam-links more than legitimate ones:]<br /><br /><a href="http://dvice.com/archives/2012/10/ethiopian-kids.php" rel="nofollow">http://dvice.com/archives/2012/10/ethiopian-kids.php</a>Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20192333411229995682012-11-02T13:43:09.331-07:002012-11-02T13:43:09.331-07:00@Tacitus - thanks for the amusing link!
I suppose...@Tacitus - thanks for the amusing link!<br /><br />I suppose it's a data point showing that when we make health care a for-profit operation, it optimizes itself for profitability, not for health ;-)<br /><br />---<br /><br />Meanwhile, Oregon's GOP is doing election fraud the old-school way, <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2012/11/oregon_department_of_justice_i.html" rel="nofollow">having a temp worker change the ballots.</a> Maybe this was just a rogue temp, maybe she can narc on higher-ups. Who knows? Either way, I'd really like to know how she got caught, and whether she's merely chaff obscuring a more organized and professional effort to mess with centralized vote tabulation servers.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56160775737894221592012-11-02T13:38:44.342-07:002012-11-02T13:38:44.342-07:00Got billionaires? Might be worth hiring expertise...Got billionaires? Might be worth hiring expertise to check this claim:<br />http://www.ukprogressive.co.uk/breaking-retired-nsa-analyst-proves-gop-is-stealing-elections/article20598.htmlHank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57852604998766432952012-11-02T13:21:52.898-07:002012-11-02T13:21:52.898-07:00Alfred Differ worries about in-person voter fraud,...Alfred Differ worries about in-person voter fraud, that is, somebody showing up and claiming to be a different person. <br />The reason that this isn't a problem is that this is a felony that has to be done one vote at a time, has to be done by the criminal in person, and is very likely to be detected. Doing this would mean taking a very real risk of getting caught. Two or three fraudulent votes, sure, that's quite possible. Ten or twenty fraudulent votes-- well, maybe. Twenty thousand? You're gonna get caught. No question. <br />It's not the possibility of one or two fraudulent votes we need to worry about. It's the wholesale election fraud. If a voting machine can change its tally, and erase all evidence that it was done and all audit trails to check it... THAT''S frightening.Geoffrey A. Landishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04518496779546782434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65938037338828146442012-11-02T13:11:36.758-07:002012-11-02T13:11:36.758-07:00Your naming the economic nobel prize reminded me o...Your naming the economic nobel prize reminded me of an article I read about a month ago.<br /><br />The source is a quite self-declared lefty-partisan <a href="http://exiledonline.com/the-nobel-prize-in-economics-there-is-no-nobel-prize-in-economics/" rel="nofollow">one</a>, but some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Economic_Sciences" rel="nofollow">quick</a> fact-checking seems to confrm it.<br /><br />I did not know that the Nobel economic prize was not a "true" Nobel prize, and was instead created as a vehicle to legitimize right wing economic theory... but it does sound quite typical, and suddenly explain many things that left me perplexed seeing the names of some that won that prize...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com