Happy New Year

I will be sitting in the chair tonight, getting drunk. I won't be on the roads. You're welcome.

New Year's Eve is amateur night, when all you folks who don't drink regularly go out there and get drunk off a couple glasses of champagne. I don't want you guys next to me on the roads. I'm a professional drinker.

Thomas Jefferson is Rolling Over in His Grave

Republican Party of Texas: Candidate Filing 2004 - See U.S. House of Representatives District 15. Alexander Hamilton is running for the House.

Feel the Love

Houston Press: The Insider - Party of One

Congressman Bell previously criticized Wilson for improper conversations with U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a key backer of the redistricting effort.
'Bell cannot tell me who I can and cannot talk to,' [state rep Ron] Wilson told The Insider. 'As a member of Congress, he talked to Tom DeLay a number of times and that's okay. That's why I say he's a racist bastard. That's the arrogant attitude he has, and why he shouldn't be in Congress.'

At least she wasn't carrying an almanac.

Dallas Voice: Guerriero sees role for GOP in gay-rights battle - I don't follow LCR as close as I should. Sorry. Congratulations Mr. Guerriero, best of luck in your new venture and I hope to see you all at a GOP convention sometime soon.

Electronic Voting

The Athens NEWS: Voting machine decision for Athens County is coming down to the wire

Last Wednesday, Ohio Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, unveiled legislation to increase security measures surrounding the upcoming selection of voter-machine vendors. The measure mainly would require a permanent paper trail for each voting vendor used in all of Ohio's 88 counties.

Washington Post: E-Voting Firm Acknowledges Hacker Break-in (TechNews.com) - link via Instapundit.

A whole bunch of Texas blogs are here.

Wow

Jihad Watch

Internet Haganah

Fact Avoidance

In this LewRockwell.com blog entry, Oh boy, Oh boy..., Ms. De Coster completely avoids the fact that she wrote something pretty much as stupid as the e-mail she received from Curtis. Ms. De Coster apparently thinks that logic and reason are for the other guy, not for her.

And now comes Jesse Ogden, who avoids the issue at hand pretty well. Mr. Ogden, you're perfectly free to criticize the military. Goodness knows I did when I was in and still do today. What Ms. De Coster did was state something that is perfectly silly and untrue. She has no factual basis for writing what she did. Now that she's being called on it she's getting all defensive.

Well, Ms. De Coster, cry me a river. You write on the Internet, guess what happens. People are going to read it. If you write something as stupid and insulting as you have, don't be surprised when people write back.

In an e-mail to me, Ms. De Coster said that what she wrote is commentary/criticism, and need not be fact-based. Well, ma'am, opinions are like hemorrhoids. And an opinion offered without any facts to back it up is bullsh*t.

Quick, Notify the Authorities!

Steve Casburn has been reading an almanac! This suspicious behavior must be investigated!

Actually, this is the first I've found of Steve's blog and since he's kind enough to link to me, I will add him to the links. Prepare for the deluge of traffic! Or, maybe not.

Prediction

Sandlin says districts won't change How did I miss that story?

Texas CD04

Rockwall businessman announces candidacy for new district

Someone, please explain to me why I find this so interesting?

Who in the heck is this guy? And why is he in my (and many others') access logs?

Thanks to NathanNewman.org for this link, which should mess with spammers. I know their bots are going through my site. I'm tired of spam and have no patience for the people who practice it. I wonder if I can run this program on my site and feed them even more fake addresses.

This is getting really silly....

HoustonChronicle.com: Police watching for terrorists with almanacs

WASHINGTON -- The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning.

Stephenville Empire Tribune: Voter registration cards delayed until all counties are ready

Voter registration certificates, or cards, that are usually mailed between Nov. 15 to Dec. 6 will not be in the mail until after Jan. 11, 2004.

Due to the redistricting plan adopted by the Texas Legislature, a Three-Judge Federal Panel has ordered all county voter registrars to delay the issuance of the voter registration certificates. The court did not include a specific deadline for the registration certificates to be issued; however, the Texas Secretary of State has advised county registrars to mail the certificates as soon as possible beginning on Jan. 11.

Could Mr. Blackburn, For Once, Have a Point?

NYT: In Houston, Residents Cringe as They Ponder the Gridlock to Come

The other involves a rebuilding of the Highway 59 spur to downtown. Shutting down all or most of that roadway — again without proper environmental review, residents claim in another lawsuit — would divert onto local streets more than 40,000 cars each way daily.

My Future Congressman?

The Baytown Sun: Candidates face Friday deadline

This year’s drawn-out redistricting drama in the Texas Legislature will have a major impact on the re-election chances of U.S. representatives Chris Bell and Nick Lampson, both Democrats, depending on whether a federal court upholds the new Republican-drawn map.

The Austin Chronicle: Politics: News Top Tens

6) Paul Likes States Rights: This spring, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside, signed on to the bipartisan States Rights to Medical Marijuana Act, which would reschedule marijuana to allow for legal use of the drug by seriously ill patients. While the bill has been filed before, and has yet to make it to committee, the measure continues to attract more supporters of both parties.

Backcountry Conservative has some really good coverage of the S.C. Presidential Primary (also here and here). If you're a geek and into that sort of incredibly detailed coverage of politics. Not like me, of course. I'm not a geek. I'm way cool.

Man, is my wife going to be angry I found this: SoccerVacations.com

LewRockwell.com Blog: Re: The Conscripts in USG's "Volunteer" Army

However, most of these guys join up for one simple reason: they are looking for the ultimate handout from Big Daddy Sam. The are looking for that automatic job, all the freebies, the benefits, the housing and education subsidies, and worse, there are the long-timers that bite the bullet for 20 years and float throught their automatic promotions and cushy desk jobs, and then retire young to a big, fat, government pension for the rest of their days. It's real tough to have any empathy for these folks. They speculate, and when war is on, they tend to lose.

I commented on this post - Electric Venom: No More Mandatory Anthrax Vaccinations

Lucas, Where Have You Been?

HoustonChronicle.com: Long road to rail will finally end

How many people are expected to ride?


For all the hoopla, few Houstonians are expected to commute on the electric-powered trains. Metro has estimated daily ridership after the first year at 33,000, which translates into 16,500 people making roundtrips. That's not even 1 percent of the city's population.

Opponents fought the rail line every step of the way, decrying it as nothing more than an expensive toy that takes money away from highways. But supporters are optimistic that rail holds the potential to reshape the city and its ugly image, hoping the tracks attract hundreds of millions of dollars in new apartments, townhomes, restaurants, stores and office towers inside the Loop.

Yeah, I hold a grudge.

Closed for the Holidays

I'm now recovered enough from my cold to begin a two-day festival of eating and drinking. The heck with blogging, pass the wine over here.

'Bout Time

ChuckMuth.com BLOG

Recovering

I get grumpy when I'm sick and it's best to keep me away from civilized folks at times like this. It's working its way through my body and I should be better in the next couple of days.

On the positive side, we found out last night that Time Warner Cable has added iControl with free On-Demand programming for digital subscribers. They must have that to try and suck you into ordering a movie. It worked. We watched Bend It Like Beckham, which I highly recommend.

Sick

I'm sick and not blogging. Reading a book, how novel!

The Hill.com: Frost aide dispatched to Texas - I haven't read this yet.

Ohio SoS Report on eSlate

I've taken a quick read of the Ohio Secretary of State's report on the security of the eSlate voting machines, which are also used here in Harris County. (In response to the post below.) I'm pretty familiar with the eSlates - I was one of the first people trained on them. I did a demonstration of the voter's unit at the 2002 primary, and have run the machines at three official elections. I've got some comments on the report.

Encryption? - The report recommends that Hart (the eSlate manufacturer) incorporate encryption into its design. This is a little confusing. My job title in the Navy was Cryptologic Technician. I can't claim any particular expert status, but I know my way around the topic.

Here's exactly what the report says:

We recommend the Secretary of State require that Hart InterCivic incorporate strong encryption to protect data.

The report rightly describes this lack of encryption as a low risk. I suppose that Hart could implement it relatively easily, but I don't quite see the point. If someone in the county government wants to get an Hart to encrypt the eSlate data for good measure, I can't argue with that, but it seems unnecessary as long as the eSlates and JBCs (Judge's Booth Controller) are kept offline.

Credible Event? - One thing the report and this Chronicle article emphasize is the potential for an unauthorized person to gain access to eSlate's supervisory controls and shut down the polls early. The report says:

We recommend the Secretary of State require that administrative policies and procedures be put into place regarding password management and physical access to the JBC.

Although I'm not kidding about beating the crap out of someone who interferes in an election, I guess I should seriously expand on the answer by bringing up the military term that we used when analyzing threats: Maximum Credible Event. For example, if you're preparing a defense/security plan for a facility, you don't prepare to defend against aliens from planet 9 attacking.

This threat of an unauthorized user logging onto the JBC involves this unauthorized user "neutralizing" the physical defense provided by the election judge and the workers. It seems to me to be something outside of the kind of event that we can expect Hart to plan for.

eSlates Unplugged - The last thing that the report and the Chronicle seem to be interested in is the fact that the eSlates' power source are interconnected and the connection between the system's units can be accessed by voters and disconnected. Well, yes, I guess they could. That person would also be getting acquainted with something heavy and Harris County's finest. Under the punch card system, a person could steal the ballots from the other voters in the next booths. I'm sure it probably even happened. But you can't stop every malicious person from being malicious. That's people for you. I guess they could secure the cables between the machines a bit better, but anything connected can be disconnected. We'll have to live with that and rely on precinct judges protecting the machines.

Not Applicable - The report notes one security concern that doesn't apply here. There's a memory card in the JBC that contains the votes. In Ohio, apparently, the election judge removes this card and takes it to a central location for tabulation. In Harris County, the election judge takes the entire JBC to a dropoff location for tabulation. The memory card has a tamper evident seal. I think that's a much better option than the way Ohio does it. If anyone from Ohio reads this, that's the one real change from this report I would heartily recommend.

Where's the Paper? - Electronic voting is something that several folks have been blogging on and the one thing we all agree on is that there ought to be a paper trail to go back to. The eSlates ought to print out a receipt that can be used in the event of a recount or equipment failure. The report doesn't seem to address that.

Electronic Voting, Again

Kuff, in this post: Guess what? There's an electronic voting machine controversy!, brings up the runoff recount in District G and the questions regarding electronic voting. I found the report for the Ohio Secretary of State, the press release is here.

I haven't read the reports yet, but I figured some folks might like the link.

Merry Christmas

Memo to French Winemakers

We and my parents (thanks for dinner!) went to Bistro Provence for my early birthday dinner last night. (It was wonderful, by the way. Try the lamb. And the mussels. And you have to try their bread.) Both my parents and I are back to drinking French wine (the wife doesn't drink wine). So, with my dad (the last holdout) making the switch, I have some free advice for the French wine industry. Increase production! The Booths are back.

Texas Redistricting News - Offbeat Sources

News24Houston: Congressional redistricting trial begins in Austin

Baytown Sun: Congressman sees hope in Pa. remap trial

From QR

December 11, 2003 3:43 PM


MID-AFTERNOON REDISTRICTING TRIAL UPDATE


So far, opening arguments and one expert witness.


The first witness on the stand today was called by Democratic attorney Paul Smith. Professor Allan Lichtman of American University in D.C. has done an analysis of Congressional Plan 1373C.

Experts! Phooey.

So, Let Me Get This Straight

The guys who throw a ball around in this game will get paid big bucks. And you want me to volunteer? Homey don't play that.

Tell Nader to Run

Here.

Thanks to Byron for the link. I don't think he'll appreciate my take on it, though.

You Say It's My Birthday

Next week (the 17th), it's the anniversary of my 29th birthday. My mother was asking what I wanted for a present. That's a silly question.

Booze, of course.

Soup is Good Food

Campbell's is donating a can of soup to the needy for every person
that goes to their site and votes for their favorite NFL team. Here's the link.

Thanks to Kathy for the link. I have no idea for whom you should vote. Does Houston have a football team yet?

News Release: Houston-Area Blogger Rob Booth Files for Public Office

Here's a link to the office I am seeking.

OK, so I'm just seeking to be elected precinct chair. But still, I will be on the ballot and the county will count votes for me or for an opponent. (I was appointed by the Harris County GOP to be precinct chair when it became vacant.)

I am seriously exploring another election though. I would like to be a delegate to the GOP National Convention in New York. Normally this would be completely out of my league as a relative newcomer to party politics. But thanks to the fantastic Tom DeLay and his success in gerrymandering Democrats into political oblivion, I'll be stuck in the new CD09. This will be a strong Democrat district.

But, lemons into lemonade, it should be a little less hard to get elected as a delegate from this district than from say, the 7th, where there are a ton of Republicans.

More on this later.

Veteran Russian liberal says election was rigged

Yavlinsky said Yabloko had overwhelming evidence that this was the case and was -- along with other parties who posted their observers at polling stations -- compiling data to prove it to the general public.

Stick That in Your GoogleBomb and Smoke It

Great President

Thanks, Bill.

RANSAC - Russian American Nuclear Security Advisory Council

Story via Johnson's Russia List and gazeta.ru (translation can be purchased from WPS): FairGame.ru claims different vote totals in the Russian Duma elections. The Communists and the Union of Right Forces should have broken the 5% mark, according to the story.

I don't even know what BCS stands for.

www.lawfullywedded.com

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Note: If you ever decide to open a small retail business, just know, Christmas/Hannakuh is busy! And it also has the added benefit this year of being during the cold and flu season. So some of the employees are sick, and guess what that means for the owners. Working even more.

But we are so happy to have the business, we don't mind. But my blogging will suffer. If only someone would pay me to blog...

Dem Filings - US House

GOP Filings - US House

The Sierra Times: Houston Metro Denies Violating Civil Rights

Tech Central Station: Do South Park Republicans Exist? - I am a South Park Republican. Respect my authority! Link via Chuck.

Here's an easy way to write a letter to the editor supporting President Bush.

Throw Away the Key

HoustonChronicle.com: Woman enraged over burger convicted of assault

My web hosting service, FatCow, just plain rocks. They're adding a FREE web-based e-mail reader to our accounts. Woo-hoo!

Too Much Fun

Thanks B4B!

Come On Down

This would be a good event for some Houston area bloggers to gather at. If you're a right-thinking, patriotic American.

LRC: GOP Abandons Conservatives by Rep. Ron Paul

The irony is that conservatives suffered through decades of Democratic control of Congress, always believing that liberals were to blame for the relentless growth of the federal government. When Republicans finally took control of Congress in 1994, many saw an opportunity for a real conservative revolution. But first, conservatives were told, the Democratic administration had to be removed. In the meantime, spending continued unabated throughout the 1990s. When Republicans won the White House in 2000, another opportunity seemed at hand. The Senate, however, was still in Democratic hands – the last possible GOP scapegoat. Finally, in 2002 the GOP took control of the Senate and increased its majority in the U.S. House. Surely this was the moment conservatives had been waiting for! Yet the past year has seen more spending than ever, including the disastrous Medicare bill that will cost trillions over coming decades. The latest line is that the GOP needs a filibuster-proof Senate of 60 Republicans, and then, finally, the party can begin to implement a conservative agenda.

Howard the Duck Hypocrite Buffoon

Blogs for Bush: Howard Dean, Conspiracy Theorist

Dean: Yes. There is a report, which the president is suppressing evidence for, which is a thorough investigation of 9/11.


Rehm: Why do you think he's suppressing that report?


Dean: I don't know. There are many theories about it. The most interesting theory that I've heard so far--which is nothing more than a theory, it can't be proved--is that he was warned ahead of time by the Saudis.

Here's another thought, if the president is suppressing evidence "for" the report, then how can it be thorough?

That's Fine, Pal

The Hill.com: 'Me too, pal,' says Bush, hanging up

Republican aides said conservatives who voted against the bill, including Reps. Mike Pence (Ind.), John Culberson (Texas), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Roscoe Bartlett (Md.) and Jim Ryun (Kan.), would suffer for their votes against the Medicare bill.

How's That Governor?

Blogs for Bush: Howard Dean, It's Time To Open Up

Analyze This!

Thank You - Here Are Your Results!

[snip]

Update: Now that was stupid. I had the results up here before, thus spoiling it for everyone. I've deleted them now. Sorry.

Link via Kate.

Hip Hip Hooray!

It's done!

What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?

Drudge: Hollywood Dems gather for 'Hate Bush' meeting at Hilton

Top Hollywood activists and intellectuals are planning to gather this week in Beverly Hills for an event billed as 'Hate Bush,' the DRUDGE REPORT has learned!

Laurie David [wife of SEINFELD creator Larry David] has sent out invites to the planned Tuesday evening meeting at the Hilton with the bold heading: 'Hate Bush 12/2 - Event'

So these Hollywood folks, who probably accused people of being Clinton haters, have no problem with sending out or responding to e-mail invites with "Hate Bush" in the subject line. Nice bunch of folks.

It's Not Over Till It's Over

Nah, sometimes it is.

HoustonChronicle.com: Sanchez accuses White of business tie to terror

Sanchez started the day with a news conference demanding that White answer questions about why Wedge Group owner Issam Fares defended Hezbollah after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"It is a mistake to make a comparison between the al-Qaida network ... which Lebanon has condemned, and Hezbollah, which Lebanon considers a resistance party fighting the Israeli occupation," Fares told Agence France-Presse. "Hezbollah did not carry out any resistance operation against American interests in Lebanon or abroad and did not target civilians in its resistance activities as happened on Sept. 11 at the World Trade Center."

There's one bit at the end that's confusing:

Sanchez said that if elected, White will push for a regional gasoline tax and place tolls on thoroughfares.

White responded that Sanchez has misrepresented his views. He said he supports construction of new toll roads to pay for construction of highway expansion and a regional transportation authority that could be created with a gasoline tax to pay for projects to ease congestion.

Not that it amounts to anything, Sanchez's campaign has been pretty poor. After this I guess we'll hear whining and gnashing of teeth from some Republicans about how Mr. White "bought" the election. Bull. The political landscape is littered with the bodies of rich guys who tried to fund their own campaigns. Heck, as of yesterday, White had no yard signs at the Dairy-Ashford and I-10 polling location, but he had put up bandit signs in my neighborhood, outside the city limits and not visible to anyone who could vote for him. Anyone shotgunning for votes like that can clearly be beaten. Sanchez decided to go on vacation instead and I have no idea what his campaign has been doing.

Ah well, I care, but I don't "care" care. I live outside the city and won't be annexed for at least 30 years (yea MUD 120!). Just another set of reasons for me to stay where I'm at and be thankful the stupid City of Houston can't get their paws on me.

If you want to go see some folks gloating about it, head on over and read Kuff or Greg. Nothing wrong with gloating, heck I'd be gloating if I had something to be gloating about.

Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies - School of Public Affairs - American University

Dave's weblog

Burnt Orange Report: Libertarian Spoiler in 2004?

This post was rather timely in that I've been doing a little research into Libertarianism, seeing if I can find something there to convince myself of because the CATO Institute pays interns $700 a month.

Seriously, I ought to discuss the issues he brings up in depth. This "spoiler" argument comes up every few years.

Howard the Duck Hypocrite

Blogs for Bush: What is Howard Dean hiding?

National Implications?

Colorado Supreme Court: No. 03SA133 -- Salazar v. Davidson: Constitutional Law, Legislative Branch, Election Law, Redistricting and No. 03SA147 -- Davidson v. Salazar: Constitutional Law, Executive Branch, Attorney General, Original Proceeding:

Because of the importance of the issues raised, we exercise our discretion to decide two cases. The first is the Attorney General’s constitutional challenge to the General Assembly’s congressional redistricting bill. The second is the Secretary of State’s separate challenge to the Attorney General’s authority to bring the first case. We decide both issues as a matter of state law.

MySA.com: Court Says Redistricting Unconstitutional

DENVER (AP) -- In a decision that could have national implications, the Colorado Supreme Court threw out the state's new congressional districts Monday because the GOP-led Legislature redrew the maps in violation of the constitution.

The New Yorker: THE GREAT ELECTION GRAB

With his West Texas twang, loping swagger, and ever-present cowboy boots, Charlie Stenholm doesn’t much look like or sound like anybody’s idea of a victim. Since 1979, he has been the congressman for a sprawling district west of Dallas, and his votes have reflected the conservative values of the cattle, cotton, and oil country back home.