Investigative journalist Bev Harris (website(1)) blew the lid off voting machine problems in America. She pointed out that many of the new "touch screen" computerized devices leave no paper trail whatsoever, and are wide open to fraud or mistakes. The problem with computer voting she stressed is the scale, where up to 10 million votes could be altered with simple programming scripts.
Whether the motivations are "sinister" or just plain "ignorance," Harris detailed that five independent studies have shown these voting machines have "stunning security flaws." She said she is a plaintiff in a lawsuit(2) against Diebold, whose screen voting terminals she believes are extremely vulnerable to tampering. Another company, Election.com, which was employed by the Pentagon through 2002, actually had majority ownership by the Saudis, she noted.
To remedy the situation, Harris advocated for "bulletproof auditing procedures," whereby each vote could be tied to a verifiable paper ballot.

1. http://www.blackboxvoting.org
2. http://www.blackboxvoting.org/dieboldlawsuit.pdf

Farthest Galaxy

Astrophysicists say they have detected a tiny galaxy(1) (the area circled in white), that may be the farthest known object from Earth, at aprx. 13 billion light-years away. The cluster is called Abell 2218. Could it be named after anyone we know?!!

1. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/farthest_galaxy

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Monday February 16, 2004