Friday, January 31, 2003

Caught on Tape. A White House aide said the electronic intercepts were only one part of a much broader picture that would include satellite photos and other evidence showing Iraqi noncompliance. “There won’t be a smoking gun, but when people hear it all you’ll see a burning forest,” said one senior administration official. [MSNBC] Without a last minute collapse of Saddam Hussein's government, war, it would appear, is a certainty. It's time for us all to pray. Pray that it would be quick and as bloodless as possible. Pray that chemical weapons would not be used, and that nuclear weapons would not be used in response. Pray that there would not be any major terrorist attacks in its wake. And pray mostly that the end result would be freedom for the Iraqi people and a safer world for everyone.   5:44:00 PM

Silicon Valley Politicians on Verge of Horrible E-Voting Mistake. In the heart of Silicon Valley, the people in charge of voting in Santa Clara County seem hell-bent on turning elections into frauds. That's a harsh thing to say, but it's also fair. The county is close to approving a touch-screen voting system that gives votes absolutely no reason to trust that their vote has been counted properly. Why? Because there is no paper audit trail. It's all hardware and software -- a black box that will inevitably be the target of tampering by crooked politicos and others who want to turn the single most important act of citizenry into a rigged system. [Dan Gillmor's eJournal] It seems to me that this is a solvable problem. Give the voter a printout which contains an ID number. Then allow them to look up their vote on the web using that ID number. Privacy is maintained because you never connect their name with their number, and they can be sure that their vote was not tampered with because they can look it up at any time.   12:53:12 PM