Was 2008 the very last election? I thought every four years there is an election. I also thought, according to past elections, that people should not just assume someone will win. They assumed Gore would win and he didn't, they assumed Kerry would win and he did not. Hence I would not assume Obama will win a second term. If he turns out to be a good president and we still have elections in 4 years, and nothing happens between now and then, then and only then will he most likely be re-elected. But since the guy has not even been sworn in yet and made any major decisions I would not be so bold as to just go on like he's going to be in for eight years. There is that slight possibility that he could very well be a crappy president like Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter (especially with all the people he is picking for his cabinet). I know the country is ready for a change and GW hasn't been the best, but until a man serves in the office we don't know what kind of a president he will be.
Unless of course you have heard something that none of us have heard and there will never be any more elections in the future. I have heard and read that Obama is a socialist, and maybe we are heading toward the same thing Cuba faces. The leader just appoints himself to the office every time. So maybe that is what you are referring to.
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They call it worst security glitch to date in state's voting machines and a 'big deal'
By Stephanie Desmon Sun reporter
May 12, 2006
Computer security experts say they have found the worst security flaw yet in the oft-criticized touch-screen machines that Maryland voters will use in this year's elections, leaving one computer scientist to warn that the state should have stacks of paper ballots on hand in case of a complete Election Day breakdown.
The machines, made by Diebold Elections Systems, are much, much easier to attack than anything we've previously said, said Avi Rubin, a Johns Hopkins University computer science professor who first cast doubt on the reliability of the technology in a 2003 report.
On a scale of one to 10, if the problems we found before were a six, this is a 10. It's a totally different ballgame, he said.
The new problem is being described as an intentional hole left in the system to allow elections workers to update voting software easily. Instead of using pass codes or other security protocols, anyone with access to a voting machine could install new software that could easily disable a precinct full of machines, Rubin said.
Diebold officials say they are aware of the situation and, although they say any problem can be avoided by keeping a close watch on voting machines, they are developing a permanent fix.
Still, said company spokesman David K. Bear, it's one more what-if scenario. ... It's becoming somewhat ridiculous.
Maryland elections officials said they have known about the latest concerns for two weeks and will have an independent security consultant look into them next week to ensure that the state's Diebold machines are safe.
We are taking steps, said state elections administrator Linda H. Lamone. She said she is confident that the problem will have little effect in Maryland because of strict rules about who is permitted to handle voting machines in the state. Everyone that has access to them has to undergo a criminal background check, she said.
Before the Diebold machines were distributed statewide about two years ago, questions arose about whether hackers might be able to get into the automated-teller-like computers and alter their software, allowing multiple votes, vote-switching and other problems.
Computer experts, including Rubin, said security measures were insufficient and poorly designed. Activists pushed to add a paper ballot component to the machines in case a recount was needed.
Still, the state moved forward and nearly every voter in Maryland used a touch-screen machine in the 2004 presidential election. There were few complaints or problems.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. called on the state this year to abandon its touch-screen machines, saying he had no confidence in the technology, in part because lawmakers adopted other voting changes such as early voting.
He put money into his budget to pay for optical scan machines, which were used in the state for years before 2004. The General Assembly did not approve a voting machine switch during this year's session, which ended last month.
Rubin said he fears that the latest security problem could be serious enough to cause an Election Day meltdown that could put precincts of machines out of action. He recommends that counties have a pen-and-paper alternative on hand as insurance.
Joseph M. Getty, the governor's legislative and policy director, called the newly disclosed security flaw not really a new problem.
It's the same problem of vulnerability to outsiders, he said.
Getty said the latest Diebold problem bolsters the administration's case against early voting, which was approved by the legislature last year. He said any security risk can be minimized in one day of voting but is multiplied when machines are in public use for six days.
Michael Shamos, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a Pennsylvania voting machine examiner, pushed his state, which will have a primary election next week, to lay out strict new rules for installing software and sealing machines for safety.
It's a big deal. It's a very big deal, Shamos said. The good part is it's very easy to fix. You have to repair it. You can't just do nothing. ... It's not just like leaving the key to your door under the mat. It's like leaving the key dangling from a string from the door.
The temporary fix, Shamos said, involves reinstalling the proper software just before the election, preferably in a public setting, then locking the machines to keep them from being tampered with before voting begins.
In 2004, Shamos testified on behalf of the state of Maryland in a suit filed by a citizens group asking a court to compel the state to address possible security problems and give voters the option of using paper ballots instead of the new machines. The state won.
If I had known about this problem then, I wouldn't have had good things to say, he said.
The latest security hole was discovered by Finnish computer scientist Harri Hursti, who was doing work in Utah for Black Box Voting Inc., a nonprofit group that has focused on computerized voting.
Most computer scientists don't want to disclose too many details about the problem because they fear that would provide hackers with the tools needed to cause havoc during an election. They waited many weeks before making their findings public.
We were worried the threat was so serious that if the details were to get out, someone could actually do it, Rubin said.
The financial crisis is happening NOW and has to be handled NOW. Our country is collapsing. If we do not do some sort of bail out, we all will still suffer from this. The value of the dollar will go down. It will be much much harder and pretty much impossible for some to get loans from banks. This means people won't be buying anything big like vehicles, homes, etc. That will ruin sales even more than it is now. Car companies will have to cut back on production because people can't get loans to buy. The car dealers will start closing down because you can't make money if you can't sell vehicles. Think of the jobs lost right there and that is just with vehicles.
I don't feel that we should have to foot the bill. I'm totally disgusted that our government has allowed it to get this far out of wack but we have to do something to get money back into the market. If we do nothing, the consequence will be horrific. We have to do something and we have to do something fast and that is more important than a debate especially since we have until November for elections.
why, I don't know. It could be that the post office changed our street address 4 times yet lived here since ྈ. I wasn't on the list even though I've been registered since 1988 and voted every election. All of a sudden, I had to fill out a special form to vote. Last local primary, they wouldn't let me vote and I had to re-register. Stupid!
This year I called to make sure I was registered and they said yes. Got a new registration card with the old address on it, but no trouble this year. I was #235 at 7:30 a.m.
post on their precious board any more, even though they won't like it. They thrive on hatred and attacks. They've been baiting people all week with their constant, unrelentless, vicious attacks on liberals. When someone gives them a taste of their own medicine, they run to the monitor.
You know, the whole concept of "their" thinking the three of us is only one person is very interesting. A very intelligent person told me a long time ago that if someone accuses you of doing something, it's probably something they are themselves doing. Maybe all three of these "people" is really only just one person with a severe personality disorder. The more outlandish things I read that "they" write, the more I'm inclined to think that might be true. One thing for certain, there are some very sick people out there, and they probably deserve pity more than disdain. "They" certainly do have some startling, somewhat scary traits, and I kind of wish now that GT hadn't put her email address out there for some of these nuts to have access to. I hope they don't begin to stalk her, but hatred is a very strong emotion, and some of these "people" clearly don't seem to be very stable.
Like I said, I'm staying away from their board. It's much easier to breathe on this board, and the intellect is certainly better.
I have been an ardent supporter of Senator Obama since February of this year. I have donated $25 a month to his campaign since then. First time in my life that I have felt that level of committment to a candidate for any office. If I were still undecided at this point, the thing that would sway me to vote for Obama would be the tone of his campaign. As in the primary, Senator Obama makes it very clear what his policies are. He is able to uplift his ideas without constantly talking in a negative manner about his oponent. He does not get personal in his attacking of his opponents' ideas and stances. His way of waging his campaign makes it possible for him and his opponent to come together and work for the benefit of our nation when all the politicking is over....as he and Senator Clinton are now doing. Senator McCain is so harsh and personal in his attacks on Obama. Senator McCain has said things that he knows are not true of Senator Obama; he has allowed Governor Palin to utter comments that would made it very difficult for them to work with a Congress and Senate that is composed of both Democrats and Republicans. I know that his back is to the wall, but he should be mindful (as it appears to me Senator Obama is mindful) that the end goal here is successfully governing our nation. Senator McCain's torched earth policy on the campaign trail would make it impossible for him to govern in cooperation with others. So, if I were still undecided at this point Senator Obama would have my vote because he is playing the election game with dignity, respect and the realization that whoever wins, we all still must be able to work together.
The McCain/Palin GOP is already in the process of stealing the Ohio vote, as was done in 2004. Among those at the center of the GOP strategy is Bush Family computer operative Michael Connell, who programmed the key vote counting mechanisms that were used to give George W. Bush his second term.
Those 2 elections didn't leave a
shred of honesty in our election process. As I recall in 2000 GWB declared himself to be president before he was declared the winner wrongly. And people talk about Obama's b/c and want to know the "truth" about that. I'd like to know the truth about the 2000 and 2004 elections and then I might be willing to talk about the "truth" of O's b/c.
I've decided too
I've made my decision too but for different reasons. I believe nothing I read and only half of what I see. I decided on what I heard directly from the candidates own mouths. Palin is a simpering airhead in my opinion. I will drag my feet to the polls and cast my vote for Obama hoping that he will do less harm than McCain. I say no McCain/Palin. I think that once the new wears off Palin we'll see a lot of people who will agree with me. Surely the American people are more intelligent than to put someone in power that only knows that Russia is her neighbor.I have decided to vote
for all the republicans I can. I've always been the type of person to look at all candidates in both parties and decide which is the better of the two. However, I'm voting straight republican this election. My grandma always told me that you never want the oval office and the congress controlled by the same party. I'm a middle of the road person and I don't want to go extreme left or extreme right so I think we need a little bit of both. So I will be voting for as many republicans as I can to try and keep the left side from totally taking over. We need some right sided people to help keep things in the middle of the road so things don't go extreme left.
I decided the same thing!
If we end up with O in the White House, we need all the Republicans we can to balance things out. I don't usually vote straight Republican, but I am this time around. I decided to do some research
on the birth certificate. I believe any reasonable person can examine the birth certificate at this website and conclude that Obama's b/c is authentic. http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
Maybe you could stop trashing him until you see what he actually does and please....quit reading all those blogs that have not a shred of useful information in them. Learn to reason for yourself.....please!
to run for president anyhow? There were candidate s much more qualified than O that could have run away with the votes if they were "chosen" by the party...but they chose someone who was only a senator for what, less than 2 years? Why? I would love to know how the party choses their candidates to run for president. Something doesn't smell right here.
This is why there should be no machines involved. How about paper votes. How about a piece of paper with two name and a picture of each of them next to their name. This way if you cant read english you will recognize the person. Then you have a box next to it, put an X, a check, or even fill in the box and let people handcount the votes (no chads). I'd rather wait a day or two to find out who won and know it is a legitimate vote.
2 elections stolen? baloney. Meaningless war? Go
nm
Hallelujah! Leftists in EU elections across Europe are
Don't think this will go unnoticed on this side of the pond as well. Obama's numbers shriveling, the Democratic-dominated Congress even worse numbers...and the Republican gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, of all places, is leading the Democrat incumbent by double digits in the polls. Those who crowed prematurely about the demise of conservatism are going to find that the toe tag has been switched - and they're the ones who will end up wearing it. Why? Because they got above themselves and WENT TOO FAR. It's so true, isn't it - "pride goeth before a fall".
Conservatives Racing Ahead in EU Parliamentary Elections:
'Iran does not allow international election monitors. During the 2005 election, when Ahmadinejad won the presidency, there were some allegations of vote rigging from losers, but the claims were never investigated.'
...to attack on 9/11. Likewise, it will be the TERRORISTS who will decide when and how to attack again.
I don't believe this has anything to do with WHO the President is, so while Bush shouldn't take the blame, he also shouldn't claim the credit for what the TERRORISTS HAVEN'T done. It's the timetable of the TERRORISTS that controls what does or doesn't happen.
The Republicans felt that another terror attack would be helpful to McCain's campaign (they came out and said so). I don't recall any Democrat uttering anything so UGLY in regards to Obama.
FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.
Lee Green did not monitor the elections, Jimmy Carter did.
Lee Green is the director of CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy on Middle East Reporting) which is a Pro-Israeli American Media Monitor. I prefer to read a book and make up my own mind and certainly am not surprised that Zionist critics would hate Carter and the truths he exposed in his book. They can protest to their heart's content, but they can't turn lies into truth.
The left has decided to make it about the teenager...
she is the one who is pregnant after all. It is each person's choice whether to take the high road or throw stones. If Sarah Palin's daughter had decided to have an abortion the left would have used that against her as well. Everyone knows that.
See...that is the problem here. The left thinks they know the common person, the "right," the middle class middle AMerica folks who have family values...anyone who thinks those kinds of people would attack a pregnant teenager in this fashion no matter what party her mother is in...does not know nor understand these people.
This perceived weapon that the left has picked up may well harm their candidate, because no matter how many times he cries foul, there are still his followers who want to go there. So we are left with two ways to view that. Either Obama is political posturing, does not believe what he said, and in the trenches is telling his people "sic her," or he is genuinely affronted by this and his followers are paying him no heed. Either way...it will reflect badly on his candidacy.
Guess that will be decided in the media circus
These links are not just guilt by association pieces like Rev Wright. They are containing words straight out of her mouth. Libs approach to research a little different than Christian Right.
Who gives a rip about local news in an already-decided state?
That's why the polls are NATIONAL polls, duh!
And I don't know what you're implying by your virus comment. Grow the he!! up already.
We've decided to sit back and watch
turn the forum back over to the tribal warriors. Our work is done here. For the record, he'll be raising taxes ON HIMSELF, for Pete's sake.
I decided to stop posting on this issue,
because it's becoming a troll.
But Barack's mother decided to send her son, when he was 11
years old,back to Hawaii to her mother.
Since then Obama was educated in America.
How much did Barack Obama think about foreign policy before he decided to run...?
I would say...none. There is certainly no proof that he DID, that is why he chose Biden. So, if HE has to make a crucial decision that does not involve voting present or yelling at Michelle for spending $10,000 to send their kids to camp, or which Britney Spears designer to use for his next big speech...what's he gonna do? All I can say is, if he is elected, he better put Biden on speed dial or handcuff him to himself. You act as if your guy is ready!! And no one has to keel over for HIM to be in charge...he is in charge on day 1. Yeah, THAT IS scary!!
Before he became pope, Karol Cardinal Wojtyla said, "We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel."
Yeah, just heard today he decided to cut his vacation short to deal with the
huricaine. Sheesh.
Yes killing this country - have you been out of the country the last 3 months or so
Don't you have a clue as to what is happening in America? Where have you been? Don't you listen to what is happening or are you still drinking the kool-aid. That time is over. Put the aid down and wake up. The country is being destroyed. These have been the worst 4 months in the history of bad presidents. Foreclosures are on the rise, unemployment is on the rise, 3+ trillion more in deficit and on the rise, companies shutting down, Clinton for SoS. Napolitano - one of the biggest tragedies to happen to America. The list goes on and on and on and on.
Dubya is not in office anymore. You think dubya "pulled the trigger", well the O keeps reloading it and continues to pull the trigger.
Yes, we can always hold
more people see through the BS. Bush & Co. certainly are out in full force *catapulting the propaganda* and swiftboating anyone who disagrees, so who knows? Hopefully fewer people will buy it this time.
I'm sure your grandchild is the cutest and smartest!
This is/was a good board with some good folks. PERHAPS she just hadn't seen these posts.....maybe....hope that's the case.
Otherwise, I agree that it's probably time to boycott this board. I have long been aware of the definite bias of the powers that be. But I still hold out hope for fairness in the long run. And I was banned on the conservative board for calling someone stupid!!!! (which I shouldn't have, I admit).
The bottom is starting to drop out of this thing. I am positive the media (who are angry already about the phony "bias" attack by McCain) will NOT let SP's silence go unnoted.
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