Blind Trust of Leaders

A judge in the state of Florida has recently declared that its voters have no right to verifiable votes on the new touch-screen voting machines. State election officials seem to be saying, "just trust us and have no concern whatsoever about verification." But should we just trust those who rigged the last presidential election by keeping registered voters from voting and refused to accept the mandatory recount?

Or, should we trust the US Supreme Court that stopped the state's right to count and verify the tally of its votes, and says that the American people have no constitutional right to vote? And based their decision on whether their favored candidate might lose?

One quarter of the nation's voters will be using unverifiable touch-screen voting machines this election year that are open to hacking, have been shown many times to have miscalculated ballots, and have no verifiable paper trail. Yet our election officials say the only recount for touch-screen ballots will be to add up the totals used in the precincts and see if they match what the total number of voters should be. What if the totals show a mathematical error and the numbers don't match? Will they then throw out all the votes of a precinct and start over, telling those voters to come back and vote again on many of the same machines? There's almost certainly going to be some discrepancy judging from the recent history of these electronic voting machines that have been foisted upon a generally unwilling public. My main question is, why can't we have a paper trail? Although no system is likely to completely eliminate the possibility of fraud, a paper trail should be mandatory on all voting machines. The whole process is worthless without validation of the results.

And what difference does voting make anyway, if the only choices you are allowed to make are between one elite Skull and Bones man and another? For this to happen, the entire system must surely be rigged and the American people just too dumb to care.

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In other news, Bill O'Reilly has apologized for his Iraq pre-war stance on its WMD. Whoop-Tee-Doo! Does that mean it's alright to be a hate-spewing warmonger who urges this nation to invade and destroy another nation based on lies and innuendos without concern for world opinion as long as you just say "sorry" afterward? It's just a rhetorical question, that I ask generally, about anyone.

Mars' True Colors

I highly recommend visiting the European Space Agency's website for the latest high resolution true color photos of Mars. Maybe NASA doesn't feel it owes the people of the world very many true color photos because people just might think that those green areas are some sort of vegetation.

ESA - Mars Express - Reull Vallis - Mars Videos - Images From Mars Express
Gusev Crater - Spirit Landing Site - January 14, 2004 - 15° South and 323° East

Take a look around the site and enjoy the view.

You can compare them to some of the photos from NASA and JPL's Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) at Malin Space Science Systems here:
The Latest Pictures From MOC, here: Archive and here: Image Gallery

Musharraf's Nuclear Secret

Musharraf has pardoned A. Q. Khan for selling nuclear technology to Libya, North Korea, Iran and possibly Malaysia, and says there will be no investigation of his own or the military's role in the illegal transfer and proliferation. Khan has taken the full responsibility himself and has been pardoned. Well, that's all now conveniently swept under the rug. Be careful on your way out not to trip over that big lump on the floor. No need for nuclear inspectors in that rogue state. Don't look there because it would be rude. And, he's not REALLY protecting bin Laden, it just seems that way.

6-Way Talks On NKorea

China has helped set up another round of 6-way talks with North Korea, the US, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea, scheduled to begin February 25th in Beijing. But has either of the two principals really changed their stance since the last round of talks that produced nothing but more bitterness? Will Bush negotiate with an "axis of evil"? Last December Vice President Cheney said in reference to North Korea, "I have been charged by the President with making sure that none of the tyrannies in the world are negotiated with. We don't negotiate with evil; we defeat it." And North Korea said it would never give up its "nuclear deterrent" unless its security was guaranteed and aid recommenced. I guess you can only hope that talking will in fact lead to an understanding that nuclear war isn't the only path that can be taken and some agreement can be reached.

Still, everyone knows that both the US and North Korea have enough nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons of mass destruction.

Opportunistic Speculation

Russia is planning a test of their readiness for all-out nuclear war sometime in the middle of this month, and guess who the exercise targets. That's right, the USA. Is it just a coincidence or is it a little strange that Russia's largest military exercise in twenty years comes after the US warns them off the Caspian Sea region and insults their political system under Putin?

This exercise probably will occur as the talks with North Korea break down again because this administration refuses to negotiate with that rogue state about their nuclear missile capabilities. Bush appears unwilling to accept their offer to scrap their nuclear program in return for humanitarian aid for their beleaguered, desperate, hungry, and starving nation.

The anti-missile defense based in Alaska and California is about to be put in place after those few successful tests that were also rigged. Now all this administration has to do is to convince any potential adversary to put homing beacons on their ICBMs, not to use multiple warheads and decoys, and only send a few missiles at a time.

While the Russians say it's a test of their systems, militarily it would only make good strategic sense from their position to pretend and say it's a test and then use the exercise to make their own pre-emptive strike against the world's most threatening nation whose tentacles are ever encroaching on their influence and on the world's resources. They may now well believe, as the neo-cons do, that nuclear war is inevitable and strike while the iron is hot against an arrogant, decadent, and aggressive bully. It just makes sense to use an exercise as cover for an overt strike. Any attack works best when it comes as a surprise, and such an exercise would be excellent cover for a real attack. Possibly, now is their best opportunity not to become marginalized globally as the US increases its own military capabilities and bases around the world. The US could go from code yellow terrorist alert to defcon 1 in the blink of an eye.

Maybe not though. This is just speculation, and I hope I don't unnecessarily alarm anyone. I know it's probably just a preparation for the real thing which could possibly happen at any time.