Holy cow. This is a VERY big deal. If you are a Maryland resident, you may want to get on the phone right now to find out from your Secretary of State how they can assure clean elections.

Baltimore Sun:

Diebold Election Systems Inc. expressed alarm and state election officials contacted the FBI yesterday after a former legislator received an anonymous package containing what appears to be the computer code that ran Maryland's polls in 2004.

Cheryl C. Kagan, a longtime critic of Maryland's elections chief, says the fact that the computer disks were sent to her - along with an unsigned note criticizing the management of the state elections board - demonstrates that Maryland's voting system faces grave security threats.

[..]In the wake of the problems, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and other politicians renewed their call to jettison the equipment. The governor has urged state voters to request absentee ballots, although use of the paper alternative raises different concerns about fraud.

A spokesman for the governor said the apparent distribution of the voting-machine software was troubling. Read on...

Tipster MrEMan reminds us of the problems experienced during the September primary and BradBlog points us to a letter by Governor Erlich expressing a loss of faith as far back as February of this year. And yet, to the disadvantage of all voters, nothing has been done.

This day is not the best day for me. I can't stand that Bush is using 9/11 as a stump speech, but I wanted to dedicate this post to the family of Tom Magee. He worked with my father at the IUOE-local 94 for a long time and after my father retired, Charlie was in the Towers, trying to save lives.

Charlie Magee:

John worked with Charles "Charlie" Magee, the Chief Engineer at the Center. Along with the 35 other employees who made up the management staff of the World Trade Center, they began their day high above the bustling city, managing what was a city within the city.--In the Management Office on the 88th floor, the scope of the catastrophe was more evident. John Griffin Jr. and Charlie Magee also thought at first that an electrical substation had blown up. The force of the explosion lifted furnishing into the air. One desk had flown up and landed five feet away. The falling debris and furnishings blocked access to the stairwells. The room began to fill with smoke. John, Charlie and others began to break out windows to get air into the room.

Continue reading »

When Will AARP Respond?

via Seetheforest

The new anti-AARP smear from the Republicans: (some might try to deflect responsibility and say this is from the drug industry-front USANext, but it is the Republicans, it is a typical Republican tactic, the Republicans are benefiting from it and the Republicans certainly are not denouncing it.):

"
From bogus surveys designed to promote a hidden liberal agenda to actively promoting liberal causes like gay marriage, the AARP has become one of America's most active liberal lobbies -- at the expense of seniors and their families. As a result, more and more Americans are standing up to the AARP and saying 'enough is enough!' Join the growing grassroots movement and voice your opinion on the AARP!"

By not responding with a fight the management of AARP is allowing their organization to be dragged through the mud by fascist thugs. But it's more than that. Managing an organization as large and important and public as AARP puts them in a position with a certain amount of responsibility for the national discourse. By not responding they are allowing this kind of thug tactic to continue and grow in effect and harm all of us. The Kerry campaign did not respond to the Swift Boat smear, and look where that got them. This is another chance to fight back, and maybe put a dent in the Republican smear machine. AARP has a responsibility to all of us to try to shut this stuff down!

Bloggers, we need a drumbeat on this! Let's see if we can get AARP to respond!