Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Find Your Polling Place Online

Posted on October 25, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

With a plethora of court decisions around the country stating that votes cast at the wrong poling place won't be counted, this is a great thing to be doing:

My name is Keith Kritselis, and I have a website that I am trying to publicize.

Http://www.mypollingsite.com

The website's goal is to help voters find their polling place. Our database of online poll locators has been slowly growing. We now can get 63% of the US population the exact location of their polling site in 4 clicks or less. For the other 37% we provide a local phone number where they can call to get the information they need. This service is free to the public, it has no political affiliation or agenda, and I truly believe that civic participation is the key to a responsive government. This is a small 1 man operation with no marketing dollars. Anything you can do to help get the word out would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Keith Kritselis

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | 5 Comments

A Small Request from the Management

Posted on October 24, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Please do not include naked URLs in the first few lines of your comments. (It is ok to use HTML links if you know how to do that.) Long URLs in the first 75 characters or so tend to mess up the formatting of this blog when viewed under IE.

I will be travelling a lot in the next two weeks and I will not be able to fix problems (or kill spam) as quickly as I usually do.

Posted in Discourse.net | 6 Comments

Mistakes, Incompetence, and Coverup Beyond Fevered Imaginings

Posted on October 24, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

In my opinion, all you need to know to decide to vote against George Bush is that his administration has presided over a destruction of the rule of law unimagined since the Alien and Sedition Acts. I speak not of the Patriot Act, most and perhaps all of whose provisions (if not necessarily their uses) reasonable people might disagree about. Rather I mean the disregard for due process, basic human rights, and our treaty obligations. These actions are most visible in the torture memo scandal, the almost certainly related practice of torture in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, and the administration’s practice of ‘extraordinary rendition’. Recall also that Bush’s team recently lobbied Congress to change the law to allow the outsourcing of torture.

But perhaps you think this concern with fundamental legality and minimal human decency is some bleeding-heart luxury this nation can no longer afford now that 9/11 ‘changed everything’. So let’s agree to disagree as to the extent that the nation should pervert itself in its drive to teach others that we lack the guts to uphold our fundamental values when challenged. Instead, let’s work with that claim that all that matters in this election is which candidate will better preserve our physical safety.

If all that matters is our safety and security, then today’s news makes it clear beyond peradventure that the Bush administration is horribly dangerous to our national security.

Continue reading →

Posted in National Security | 10 Comments

Something Is Right With this Video

Posted on October 24, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

We're fans of Sarah McLachlan's music in this household, so it's a pleasure to report that her new video, World On Fire, is something beautiful and special. (Spotted via David Weinberger's contribution to the new Personal Democracy Forum).

Posted in Kultcha | Comments Off on Something Is Right With this Video

Eric Muller’s Laptop Is Possessed

Posted on October 24, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Eric Muller's laptop is acting up in a novel way:

Twice today my laptop has said to me, a propos of nothing, “What would you like me to say? You may type anything.”

I haven't the faintest idea why this is happening.

If the voice coming from my computer were John Ashcroft's, it might make some sense, but in fact the voice is that of a British woman.

Virus? Prank? Emergent, lonely AI? Demonic Possession? Surely if it were a mere virus, Google would have something on this by now….

Posted in Sufficiently Advanced Technology | 3 Comments

Vote Watch 2004

Posted on October 23, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Vote2004.eRiposte.Com is your one-stop-shopping site for news about vote/election fraud, vote suppression, voting irregularities, and voter intimidation in this election.

Lots (far too much for comfort) stuff here…

The site is well-organized: you can view news chronologically, or by red/swing/blue states or by state. Here, for example, is the Florida electoral vote fraud and suppression page.

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | 2 Comments