California requires electronic voting machines to make receipts

In a major victory for voting rights advocates, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley announced Friday that all electronic voting machines in California must provide paper receipts by 2006.

Shelley also introduced stricter requirements for testing and auditing of the software used to record and tabulate votes in the nation’s most populous state.

California’s reforms address concerns of Silicon Valley computer scientists and voting rights advocates who have been warning that paperless voting systems expose the vote to hackers, software bugs and mechanical breakdowns.

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While cackling with anticipation, no doubt

Gen. Franks doubts Constitution will survive WMD attack

Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government.

A far better plan would be for Americans to discard those who believe the Constitution is an annoying obstacle standing between them and more power, because, hey, with a “military form of government”, then I guess Tommy Franks would be near the pinnacle of unchallenged power, wouldn’t he?

I see no reason why a major attack on the US would have to result in such a government or why such a government would protect us from more attacks - and I very much question why a general is even speaking such madness. 

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Thank you, Britian!

Tens of thousands cheer as a paper maiche effigy of Bush is toppled in Trafalgar Square, a brilliant media event that made headlines across the planet.

While the whole world was watching, Stop The War in London mobilized the biggest weekday demonstration ever in Britain, quite effectively ruining Bush’s visit.

You were amazing, Brits!

OK, America, now it’s our turn!

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I am the Prince of Darkness. I spit on your foolish laws

War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal

International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal.

In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: “I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing.”

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Winning their hearts and minds?

They’ve been bombing houses in Tikrit and other areas! Unbelievable… I’m so angry it makes me want to break something!!!! What the hell is going on?! What do the Americans think Tikrit is?! Some sort of city of monsters or beasts? The people there are simple people. Most of them make a living off of their land and their livestock- the rest are teachers, professors and merchants- they have lives and families…

And NO- I’m not Tikriti- I’m not even from the ‘triangle’- but I know simple, decent people who ARE from there and just the thought that this is being done is so outrageous it makes me want to scream. How can that ass of a president say things are getting better in Iraq when his troops have stooped to destroying homes?! Is that a sign that things are getting better? When you destroy someone’s home and detain their family, why would they want to go on with life? Why wouldn’t they want to lob a bomb at some 19-year-old soldier from Missouri?!

The troops were pushing women and children shivering with fear out the door in the middle of the night. What do you think these children think to themselves- being dragged out of their homes, having their possessions and houses damaged and burned?! Who do you think is creating the ‘terrorists’?!! Do you think these kids think to themselves, “Oh well- we learned our lesson. That’s that. Yay troops!” It’s like a vicious, moronic circle and people are outraged.

Indeed.

Rockets hit two hotels in Baghdad
Suicide bombing kills 5, injures 30 in Kirkuk
Attack in Turkey kills 27, wounds 450

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Sigalert.com

A few days ago it took a friend 2 hours to drive 17 miles on absurdly traffic-choked LA freeways.

I always check the SigAlert.com LA traffic map before leaving home. Sometimes the little markers are mostly green. This means traffic is moving at least a whopping 35 mph. The night of her trip, most lights were yellow and red. This meant traffic was abominable.

If you live in L.A., check this map often. And, yes, you can access the map on a cell phone, though they advise you not do so while driving, else you become an accident marker on the traffic map!
 
In L.A., traffic reports are called SigAlerts, “Sigalerts are named after an early traffic reporter in Los Angeles, Loyd Sigmon”, who bought radio station KMPC in 1953 along with Gene Autry.

He invented a shortwave gadget that was alerted when LAPD issued a traffic alert, and thus the SigAlert was born.

The first “Sigmon traffic alert” was broadcast on September 5, 1955.  It had the unintended effect of CAUSING a traffic jam, as the message was sent out requesting any available doctors and nurses to respond to a train derailment outside L.A.’s Union Station.  Nobody realized how many doctors and nurses would rush to the scene and tie things up even worse.

<Sigmon> found it all a bit amusing, telling a Los Angeles Times reporter, “I ran a multimillion-dollar corporation, but it’s the SigAlert that people remember me for.”

And here’s 400 real time California traffic cameras you can watch on the Internet.

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