July 31, 2003
Electronic Voting
The Denver Post ran a story yesterday about the annual meeting of the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers. Not what you might think would be a very interesting group, but the hot topic there is the lack of security of electronic voting machines.
"What we know is that the machines can't be trusted. It's an unlocked bank vault ..., a disaster waiting to happen," said David Dill, a Stanford University computer science professor who has prompted more than 110 fellow scientists to sign a petition calling for more accountability in voting technology.
The article also quotes some who don't think voting machine security is a problem.
"It's fear-mongering by a few people who want to go back to the 19th century-way of voting," Adams County Clerk and Recorder Carol Snyder said.
and
Doran added that there have been no reports of tampering or defrauding computerized election systems in Colorado.
"Nobody has brought any evidence to us so we're not considering it a problem," she said.
Like Glenn Reynolds, when chosing between the scientists and the bureaucrats I'll take the scientists. It's laughable that anyone would say there's no problem because no one's complained yet. The core problem is that fraudulent operation of these machines would be undetectable, so of course no one has any evidence!
Those of us who have a healthy skepticism of government and politics realize that if election fraud is possible, then election fraud will happen.
Talkleft is following the issue as well.
Ending With a Whimper
It's becoming more and more evident that there is no serial cat killer loose around Denver.
I wrote about the media frenzy surrounding the cat cases a few weeks ago. The disturbing thing about the situation is how the reporters got the story so wrong from the beginning, raising the fears of pet owners by overlooking what seemed to me to be the obvious explanation for the rash of cat killings.
Thanks to Charyl for the notice!
July 28, 2003
Nice Place to Live
Colorado. Great climate, wonderful scenery, all sorts of outdoor activities, and at least one embarrassment of a congressman. (Interview from Right Wing News)
I have to tell you that we are facing a situation, where if we don't control immigration, legal and illegal, we will eventually reach the point where it won't be what kind of a nation we are, balkanized or united, we will actually have to face the fact that we are no longer a nation at all. That is the honest to God eventual outcome of this kind of massive immigration combined with the cult of multiculturalism that permeates our society. ...The fact is, that won't occur in a legal way, it will occur in a de facto way.
(...)
There are places right now in East LA & Southern Texas that you would not honestly -- there is absolutely nothing that you would say makes them part of the United States of America. They are a separate country -- it is separate country -- right now, at this moment.
I don't know how to take this other than if Tancredo doesn't think you live like an American, or talk like one, then you aren't really an American.
More Tom T.:
There is place at the Northern tip of Brazil that is referred to as the "Tri-Border Area" -- Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. This area is responsible of a huge flow of illegal immigrants into the United States including large numbers of Middle-Easterners. They come into South America, into Brazil, they are kept there for a period time to become a little bit better with the language. Brazil is a country, very eclectic in nature, you cannot look at anybody and say they are Brazilian. You have no idea. They're black, they're white, they're brown, they're everything. So they're given Brazillian documents and move them to the United States.
Someone get Tom a globe. Argentina is what direction from Brazil? Shame about those Brazilians and their racial corruption, huh Tom?
Read the article for yourself, find your own Tancredo gems. Find out how he feels about Mexican workers here sending back cash to their families at home, and other fantastic nuggets of wisdom. I might have to start tracking Tancredoisms a little more closely.
Cuba Continues Decline
Paul Marks at Samizdata wonders if Castro's decision to forgo EU economic aid signals the beginning of the end. Marks also notes that some of the Cuba's paltry income is derived from illegal drug trade abetted by Colombian Marxist rebel groups.
Chalk up one more benefit of the War on Drugs: Helping keep Castro in power a little while longer, at least in a small way.
July 27, 2003
Denver Open Update
I did not win. Bogeys outnumbered birdies by a sizable margin. I did get to see a lot of friends and even had some people follow me around to see me play.
Just wait 'til next year.
July 24, 2003
What Is It Now?!?
This is getting ridiculous. First Big Haired Matt, then Andy, now the other Matt. All unemployed. Is it something about blogging?
Roverpundit Matt is the patron saint of this blog. (Didn't you notice the statue and the candles in the corner?) He helped me set up the new site and generously donates the space to host it. So why don't all of you go over and make a donation to his tip jar?
Big Day
Tomorrow marks two important events. I'll be playing in the first round of the Denver Open. No, I'm not paired with John Elway, but lots of good players are there, and there's a $100,000+ (!!!) purse at stake. I'm not playing my very best at the moment, but hopefully I'll play well enough to make the cut and a paycheck.
Coincidentally, that's the same day the new edition of 5280 Magazine comes out. Dave Cullen has written an article about Denver bloggers, and he says that four are featured prominently: TalkLeft, Vodkapundit, the World Wide Rant, and (gasp!) this one. How my little blog got included with those is a mystery, they get hundreds of thousands of visits while this one gets a few dozen. Thanks Dave!
You can read more about the Denver Open in today's Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post.
July 22, 2003
Great White on Tour Again
I can't comment on this Denver Post story:
The rock band associated with one of the worst nightclub disasters in history kicks off its first concert tour since the tragedy tonight and Wednesday in Colorado.
Great White plays tonight at the Logan County Fairgrounds in Sterling and Wednesday at The Gardens nightclub in Colorado Springs.
Biting my tongue. Harder. Tasteless jokes want out....AAARRGGGHHH!
July 21, 2003
Older News
I've seen these numbers before but neglected to put them on the blog, so a hearty thank you to Matthew Edgar for pointing out this Cato institute op-ed:
Indeed, based on his first three budgets, President Bush is the biggest spending president in decades. For FY2004, discretionary outlays will rise 3.5%, which follows increases of 7.8% in FY2003 and 13.1% in FY2002. Non-defence discretionary outlays will rise 3.2% in FY2004 following increases of 7.9% in FY2003 and 12.3% in FY2002.
Emphasis mine.
I've said it before, and can't say it often enough, if you believe in smaller government, Bush is not your guy.
July 19, 2003
Idiots Savant
Chrissie Hynde was in the news recently, protesting a KFC in Paris by smearing red paint on the restaurant's windows, symbolizing the blood of the chickens served there. It was part of a PETA stunt, of course.
If this were some anonymous citizen out making a fool of herself, I wouldn't even care about the protest, and just chalk it up to one more nitwit out wasting her time campaigning for animals while humans suffer unspeakable horrors around the globe. But this is THE Chrissie Hynde, frontwoman of the Pretenders, makers of some of the most accessible and brilliant pop music in the 80's. That's the rarest of talents, the ability to make music that's inventive, intelligent, and at the same time massively popular. Those attributes don't coincide very often. I use the word genius judiciously, and she deserves the label.
So how can she be so dumb when it comes to subjects other than music?
Every time I see some artist in public making a fool out of herself I think of Billy Bragg. Billy is an English singer and songwriter who has written some of the most memorable lyrics and melodies I've ever heard. He seems to eschew popularity, and throws away pop hooks that other artists would turn into millions of dollars. He enjoyed (?) some success in the mid eighties with a couple of college radio singles, but never broke into mainstream radio.
From his most popular tune 'Greetings To The New Brunette,'
The people from your church agree
it's not much of a career
trying the handles of parked cars
whoops, there goes another year
whoops, there goes another pint of beer
He has some catchy political slogans, too.
If no one seems to understand
Start your own revolution
And cut out the middleman
...from 'Waiting For The Great Leap Forward.'
All good. Except that Billy is a confirmed, outspoken Socialist. Yes, the failed ideology that's killed millions around the planet. See for yourself on his website.
But I still buy every new record he makes, and I'll go see his show every time he's in town.
Mixed News
The good is I've been very busy at work. Employment is a good thing. The bad is that the blog has suffered as a result.
Let me catch up on some urgent business concerning two other fine blogs.
First, Arthur Silber's been publishing the finest, most well reasoned anti-war arguments extant. He is, understandably, upset that his arguments are roundly ignored by the blogosphere. You can easily burn an hour or two reading his blog, and if you support the war you might want to challenge him via his comments feature. I'll guarantee you'll learn something there.
Secondly, Andy might agree with me when I say employment is good thing. Feel free to hit the tip jar at each of those exemplary blogs.
July 15, 2003
And How Much Would Jesus Pay?
Deion Sanders doesn't want to pay his automobile repair bill. Why?
DALLAS -- A judge listened to testimony Monday and is expected to rule soon whether former Dallas Cowboy Deion Sanders owes money to a body shop for work done on his vintage 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible.
State District Judge Joe Cox took the case under advisement after the one-day trial, said court administrator Donna Bouthton.
The owner of the repair shop said Sanders wanted to pay only $1,500 of the $4,265.57 bill, saying that Jesus had informed him that was all he needed to pay.
"It's the 'Praise Jesus' discount,'' attorney Ed Edson told The Dallas Morning News in Monday's editions.
Whatta jerk. This is how you reinforce negative stereotypes about vain athletes and hypocritical Christians, each of which may describe Sanders.
July 14, 2003
July 11, 2003
Walter in Denver, Proud Liberal
Julian Sanchez asks, if the leftists are done with it, can we have our word back?
Julian helpfully points out this definition, including
1. One usage of the term is for a tradition of thought, that tries to circumscribe the limits of political power, and to define inalienable individual rights. This usage is more common in continental Europe. See classical liberalism or libertarianism.
2. Another, less common usage, is to denote the tradition of various liberal parties. However, though said liberal parties were originally founded on the tradition above, they significantly diverged from it since they came to power in the 19th century, and liberal parties around the world are now based on a variety of unrelated ideologies, so the ideological content of the word depends on the geographical context. See political liberalism.
3. Another, common usage, denotes the ideology of social-democracy, as defended by the liberal party in UK since the early 20th century, under the influence of Fabianism. It is with this background that Keynes claimed to be liberal in the 1930s, and that many American leftists claimed to be liberal. This usage is very popular in the United States.
Now if we can just get conservatives to stop calling themselves libertarians....
Second Thoughts on Cat Cases
Investigators in the cat 'mutilation' cases seem to be changing their minds about the extent of human involvement. Today's Denver Post:
Aurora police will seek a wildlife expert's opinion in the future before they rule on the cause of suspicious cat deaths, officials said Thursday.
Members of a metro area task force that is examining a rash of suspicious cat deaths decided they need to rule out wildlife as the cause of future deaths.
(...)
It's not unusual for pets to be killed by wildlife, even in urban areas, said Todd Malmsbury, chief spokesman for the Colorado Divion of Wildlife.
"Many people in Colorado don't realize how common it is for native wildlife to take pets that are running loose," he said.
Owls, foxes, coyotes and even domestic dogs are common predators. He said coyotes are usually seen in suburban areas but sometimes are spotted in open spaces in urban areas.
Malmsbury underplays the number of urban predators when he says they are 'sometimes spotted ... in urban areas.' As I pointed out here, predators are very common even in heavily populated urban zones.
Hopefully the investigators are reading this blog everyday.
I'll cautiously hold off on a big fat 'I told you so.'
Related news: The golf course I curently work at also has a resident coyote. One of the nearby residents lost her Chihuahua a few days ago. The little dog got loose and hasn't been seen since.
Yo quiero Taco Bell?
July 08, 2003
Think About It
New Zealand writer C.D. Sludge has an expose' of the problems inherent in the electronic voting machines used in the U.S. The article says the scandal is 'bigger than Watergate,' which may be a bit of hyperbole, but if the voting machines have been tampered with that statement might be literally true.
Sludge's story is disturbing, but the crux of the matter is what I've been saying for some time. A handfull of peolpe have access to the machines' programming. If the people assigned to run the machines want to manipulate vote totals they can do so, and probably do it in such a way that no one could ever detect the tampering.
I would be surprised if this sort of fraud hasn't happened already.
This story came to me via TalkLeft, who points out the ties that Republicans have to a voting machine manufacturer. Given the Democrats' history, I don't think they would be above this sort of behavior, either. I don't trust either party to do what's right at any level.
Update: From the comments on the TalkLeft post, this website promoting the use of more secure electronic voting machines. VerifiedVoting.org
In Case You Wondered
It's been confirmed-
What rating is your journal?
brought to you by Quizilla
I couldn't even manage a PG rating. Feel free to keep your kids out of here anyway. (via Dean Esmay)
July 06, 2003
More Dead Cat Hysteria
From today's Denver Post:
At the end of the week, the reward for whoever brings the Cat Mutilator to justice went up to $14,500.
With that perhaps in mind, two Aurora police officers rushed to an elementary school the other day in response to a call on the cat-mutilation tip line.
When they arrived, they found two quiet cats lying on the sidewalk.
Never fear, cat lovers. Turns out the reason they weren't meowing was that they were stuffed.
I suppose now we can up the official mutilated tabby tally to 47.
C-Span Update
Libertarian presidential candidates Gary Nolan and Michael Badnarik will be appearing today at 6:26 PM Eastern. The segment will be replayed at 9:30.
More Updating: I'm listening to the program now. I think somebody at C-Span loves the Libertarian Party, because the first part of the program is a speech by incoming Republican Chairman, ah, Ed Gillespie, who, umm, isn't particularly, ahh, adept at public, uh, speaking, umm, and not to mention reason and, ah, logic, and the Libertarians can't help but look good in comparison.
Notes From the Front Line
Cato Institute intern John Thrasher sends a letter home (found on The Colorado Freedom Report):
I must admit that I am somewhat taken with the city. It is worlds apart from my environs in Boulder and not a day goes by where I don't long to be in Colorado, but Colorado might as well be on Mars. The concerns of the people in Colorado are not the concerns of the people here. Sure, everyone still needs food here, they pine for love in the same way, and we all watch the same movies and news shows, but there is something else, something different: all the money is here. The economy is never bad in D.C. It used to be said that all roads led to Rome. It would be more accurate now to say that all the money leads to D.C.
July 04, 2003
A Case Study on Media Frenzy and Mass Hysteria
The cat mutilation story that had been a major local story for some time has now become a national and even international story in the past days. 45 cat corpses, or parts thereof, have been found around the Denver area over the last year. The popular theory is that a young man or group of young men have been roaming around snatching cats and cutting them to pieces. These men are seriously disturbed and will soon turn to killing people.
I had been disinterestedly following the story, but a few days ago when authorities announced the dead cat count was over 40, my BS detector sounded a quiet alarm. How could anyone kill so many over a relatively short amount of time without being detected? Is there a chance most of these incidents have an alternate explanation? The cats have been found as far as the towns of Parker and Lafayette, which are about 46 miles apart by highway. My first suspicion went to the wildlife that lives in the metro area. Even the most crowded inner parts of the city harbor some very non-tame wildlife. I've seen coyotes, hawks, and eagles in urban settings around town, even a fox on a street within a mile of the downtown skyscrapers.
I read the claims of bizarrely dissected cat carcasses:
In many cases, the cat was disemboweled with what appeared to be surgical precision. Some were also decapitated or cut in half.
Carol DeYoung lost her 13-year-old tabby, Mozart, a few days before Halloween last year. Days later she was called in to identify Mozart's head.
"There is absolutely no way that was done by an animal," she said Wednesday. "It was a scalpel wound, it was done by a scalpel."
I don't know what poor Ms. DeYoung's background might be, but for the most part we're talking about city folks here, people who don't see a lot of dead and decomposing animals. I'd wager that most couldn't tell the difference between a cat part that had been cut off and one that had been bitten off. I doubt I could tell the difference, and I spend more time in the outdoors than most of my neighbors. Nevertheless, most of the people I talk to think there's someone out there killing lots of cats.
Well, much to my bemusement the media frenzy has heightened in the last week. Yesterday the story really took off when Katie Couric interviewed one of the unfortunate cat owners. Reporters from all over are filing reports from from the Denver suburb of Aurora, where most of the cats have been found. Here's one from the Sydney Morning Herald (yes, that Sydney):
By David Kelly in Aurora, Colorado
July 5 2003
Bugsy was a tough cat who could stare down a fox and run like a rabbit. But one night the tabby met something darker and more menacing than a fox, something he could not outrun.
The next morning Christy Hughes found her 5 kilogram cat dead on the lawn.
"I can't get the visual out of my head," a shaken Hughes recalled, looking at the spot where Bugsy lay two weeks ago. "It's sick."
The cat had been dissected with near surgical precision. No one heard or saw anything.
No, sorry, a fox wouldn't have much trouble with a house cat. No one heard anything? Go figure. From the same story:
Police have not ruled out that the attacks may be part of an adolescent prank, initiation rite or even the work of predatory animals. The most alarming possibility though, is that they could be a precursor to attacks on humans.
Cat corpses are turning up almost every day.
Ah yes, the initiation rite. At least the writer didn't mention Satanists. Note how 45 cats spread over a year became 'almost every day.'
More from the Rocky:
Humans were involved in the mutilation of at least 37 of 45 dead cats found in the metro area in the past year, investigators said Wednesday.
Oh. Can I assume that at least eight of the 45 had no sign of human involvement? Why mention the number 45 at all?
Now comes an expert to throw cold water on all the fun. From yesterday's Rocky:
The nation's leading expert in animal mutilations said he'd be shocked if humans are responsible for recent cat mutilations - saying wildlife is the likely culprit.
"We have a database that has several thousand animal-cruelty cases, and frankly, we have never identified a case in which one or two or three people sequentially kill a large number of animals, or specifically cats," said Dr. Randall Lockwood, Humane Society of the United States vice president of research and educational outreach and co-author of a book on animal forensics.
Dr. Lockwood has not been very popular with the press. The Denver Post quotes him in this article, which downplays the likelyhood of natural predators as an explanation, but does include this passage:
Police say necropsies and other evidence suggest human involvement in 37 cat deaths.
That number might be generous. Maybe even hysterical. Gould and Lockwood agree that in necropsies it is often hard to tell the difference between a wound made with a sharp tooth and a sharp knife.
As a crime-solving tool, said Gould, necropsies aren't as reliable as human autopsies.
I haven't seen any national press quoting Dr. Lockwood.
The Denver Post also published a map showing the locations of the cats. (Click the link, then scroll down to see the map.) The Rocky published a more detailed map, not available online, which shows the central cluster in Aurora. See the blue area near most of the cats? That's Cherry Creek reservoir, a state park. There's lots of wildlife there. Just north of the park, on the other side of I-225, is Kennedy golf course. The Rocky's map shows several of the cats were found just off the golf course.
This has special significance to me. Kennedy golf course was my employer for about eight years.
Kennedy golf course is home for a number of coyotes, sometimes as many as a half dozen at a time. I suspect that these animals have developed a taste for kitty.
(This sounds like first-hand blogger reporting.-Ed.) (Why, yes, it is.-W.)
My best guess is only a handful of the cases are actually human caused, if any.
July 03, 2003
Nolan, Badnarik on C-Span
Libertarian presidential candidates Michael Badnarik and Gary Nolan will be appearing on C-Span this Sunday, July 6th. I've read conflicting info on the times the show will air. I'm guessing 6:30 Eastern but I'll try to check again as the day nears.
July 01, 2003
Economists Say What?
Agoraphilia has expanded its scope by adding a couple of contributors. New blogger Jim Dow brings us this post concerning 'communitarian' Amitai Etzione .
Now, before you go and read that article, let me share some thoughts about free-marketeers and our thoughts concerning Statists*. We often feel that Statists are simply ignorant of economic science. I know, or at least I hope, that not all of them base their political philosophies on ignorance. But this article suggests that what we suspect of their ignorance may actually be true.
Even a cursory study of economics shows that Etzione's beliefs are (for lack of a better descriptor) whacked.
Go read the article.
*Statist - One who believes that the needs of the state override the needs of the individual, and override the mechanisms of individual action. (IE free markets)