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I caught a glimpse of McCain speaking live from LA today and when I woke up he was still talking.

In celebration of having only 380 days of bush left to go, a few links:

25 George W. Bush Facts

The Bush Countdown Blog

Only reason Huckabee is sticking it out is so that McCain will pick him for VP.

If you like commercials…I mean football, databases and politics and live in the greater Boston area this week is like Christmas, New Years and…well…Super Bowl Sunday back to back to back. I’m looking forward Super Bowl as is most of New England (and wherever that other team is from) though as usual more for the food and commercials. I do hear it is supposed to be a decent game as well. Monday brings the very first Database Day at MIT including talks from Dave DeWitt, and some recent database technology developments. And on Tuesday Massachusetts sees its first significant Democratic primary in over 20 years (and notably the first primary in which I feel compelled to vote). This week is shaping up to be an exciting week!

The crack reporting team at the New York Times have broken the story on how Pet Projects Are Flourishing in Congress. Never mind that “the Democratic totals are less than half than the record set by Republicans when they controlled Congress in 2005,” because “they are far higher than the levels just 10 years ago.” Just ten years ago! The rest of the article is copy and pasted from congressional reports and the same quotations repeated by different members of congress. If you make it past the headline towards the end of the first page of dribble you might learn that thought “the volume of earmarks in spending bills has exploded in the past decade, from about 3,000 in 1996 to almost 16,000 in 2005,” in fact “critics acknowledge that the Democrats have made the system less secretive and slightly less of a free-for-all.”

There have been numerous references to the war in Iraq as Vietnam, WWII and the American Civil War. A more apt comparison (and likely eventual outcome) is the British in Palestine. The US seems to be repeating the mistakes of the British Empire and Soviet Union. Best I can tell our only hope is to elect a leader who has some common sense or has at least read some.

It is amazing how well connected the US and UK intelligence agencies must be to know that they only need to check for gallon back full of mini 3oz containers at US and UK airports. I’m very impressed that they so easily ruled out flights from every other country that flies into the US or UK and all bus and railway traffic. At least I assume they know that terrorists aren’t planning on using 4oz of liquid explosives via those methods of transportation because they don’t check.

SNL is thinking along the same lines…

Terrorism is an action against people. If people are not terrorized then the actions are ineffectual – some might even argue that if the people are terrorized but fail to respond as anticipated (e.g. Osama Bin Laden wants US influence out of the Mid East and one might argue he’s making very little progress) then the terror has also failed. In any case, the defense against terrorism, i.e. security, is also an action that’s based on people. In protecting people from terror (presumably involving some harm) security is on successful if people feel safe. This is why Security Theater is often effective. Make people feel safe, not terrorized and you are effectively defeating the end goal of terrorists. Conversely, if you trigger an alarm and fail to explain the reason, people feel less safe and in some cases, more terrorized by the very organizations that are trying to defend them.

We were traveling on the London Tube the other day and after stopping at Green Park an announcement came on the loudspeaker that the station was being evacuated. The doors were open and the train was stopped – there was no explanation and so people started getting off the train to evacuate. This apparently was not the intended behavior as the train operator quickly corrected us to stay on the train. With the platform clear the train sped off to the next station. A couple stops later we got out and never again to hear about the incident. Does this make us feel safe? Sudden evacuation and conflicting or missing information, while rarely causing as much physical harm as destructive terrorism can have tremendous psychological effects. Security is not a matter of protecting numbers of people from harm, to be effective security must make people feel safe.

I’ve been insanely busy and haven’t had time to post lately. I find myself tonight in the strange position of having caught up on my work and waiting to catch a red-eye back home. Reading through the day’s news I couldn’t help but dive into the details of the recent SCOTUS ruling on partial birth abortions. I don’t know whether it’s because the children of the baby boomers are themselves having children or because I’ve got one of my own that I am noticing more infants and toddlers.

Getting back to the case…I think Justice Kennedy is off his rocker. He actually supported the opinion with the following quotation (via NYT):

“whatever one’s views concerning the Casey joint opinion, it is evident a premise central to its conclusion — that the government has a legitimate and substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life — would be repudiated were the court now to affirm the judgments of the courts of appeals”

I’m continuously confounded at the conservative belief that that the government has no business in personal lives….except when it comes to women’s medical decisions concerning pregnancy. Here’s another one (again via NYT…any chance they’re biased?):

“It is self-evident that a mother who comes to regret her choice to abort must struggle with grief more anguished and sorrow more profound when she learns, only after the event, what she once did not know: that she allowed a doctor to pierce the skull and vacuum the fast-developing brain of her unborn child, a child assuming the human form.”

Curious that the only woman on the court disagreed: “this way of thinking reflects ancient notions of women’s place in the family and under the Constitution — ideas that have long since been discredited.”

And that in the most recent prior decision striking down a similar Nevada law the other woman on the court sided with the majority, supporting a woman’s right to choose.

The Guardian reports that UK Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald is speaking out against the absurd notion that one can wage war against terrorism.  Some choice points:

“…there is no such thing as a ‘war on terror’, just as there can be no such thing as a ‘war on drugs’.”

“The fight against terrorism…is not a war. It is the prevention of crime, the enforcement of our laws and the winning of justice for those damaged by their infringement.”

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales claimed during recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearings that “there is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution.”

I wonder if anyone has told him that the Constitution does not establish the position of Attorney General either.

The BBC reports that Bush is going to appoint Admiral William Fallon as head of US Central Command.  Quoting the article, “if confirmed, the move would put an admiral in charge of two land wars.”

The NYT writes that, according to a senior administration official, the transition in Iraq “is not the United States and Iraq struggling for control of the steering wheel.”  They continue to quote that “this is the United States wanting Iraq to be firmly with the steering wheel in hand, and the issue is, how do we get there are quickly as possible.”

This begs the question - who’s driving right now?  For that matter, whose foot is on the gas?

Why do we, the voters choose to allow our politicians to accept campaign contributions that originate out of state?  What business does a non-Kentucky resident have contributing to the campaign of a one of Kentucky’s citizens who wishes to represent her or his constituents?  It has been argued that money is equivalent to speech but that doesn’t mean states have to accept outside input of any form.

What would happen if states chose to disallowed campaign contributions that originated from out of state?  What if state campaigns (i.e. all campaigns except for President) could not accept donations from any person or organization not a resident of the state.  Would there be loopholes?  Probably.  But the spirit is to keep the RNC and DNC from running around tromping over congressional battlegrounds and let the people pick their own representatives.

Money is not only a form of speech it is also a source of power.  There’s something to be said to balancing the power of the people who govern and those who elect them.

Interested?  Talk to your state campaign finance office or board of elections.

Keeping tabs on Voter Fraud this fall.

Glitches cited in early voting

Jefferson County Voters Continue To Raise Concerns About Voting Machines

 Schneier on Security: How to Steal an Election

Question: is the average American at a higher risk of being killed by a terrorist or of his or her vote being improperly counted?

Care urged when voting

Justice Department Preparing for Election Problems

Poll watchers expected across SC to prevent voting problems

VoterStory.org Launched to Tackle Election Day Voting Problems

Primary and early e-voting problems point to gathering storm

Are Electronic Voting Systems Ready for Tuesday?

Last-minute ugliness in your church parking lot

A bit more info on the robocall scam…

Repeat calls not from Hodes

There is the political side and the ethical side to campaigning and focusing on one does not justify disregarding the other.  There is also blind zealotry which is deceptive at best and has no place in democratic discourse.

Electronic voting irregularities reported. How much impact?

E-voting glitch roundup: 5 states with biggest probs

HBO’s “Hacking Democracy” doc on Diebold e-vote problems

12,300 Complaints of Voting Irregularities

Problems Lead 8 States to Extend Some Voting Hours

Was There E-Voting Fraud?

David Gagne recounts his encounter with the TSA at LAX.  When my wife and I flew out of LAX we ran into similarly grumpy people who insisted we could only have two bags each.  Unlike David we didn’t have the time to have some fun with them and received some repacking assistance form the friendly Delta staff.  I wonder whether all the non-TSA workings at LAX get together at night and make fun of the TSA.

Over the past few years, several political scientists have found that the way the GOP managed to get the Kansans of the country to vote against their own economic self interest is by talking up wedge issues (or as the media and GOP like to call them, value issues).  These are issues to which traditional Republicans pay lip service but often do nothing about (often because they are actually socially liberal).  One stand-out issue that has garnred Republicans a lot of headway during the rein of George W. Bush is gay marriage.  Interestingly, as reported by Frontline, gay marriage is Karl Rove’s favorite wedge issue.  Though with the recent New Jersey Supreme Court ruling (pdf) the New York times speculates that the GOP, in moving to energize voters over a fundamental values issue, have run out of steam.

After security researcher Christopher Soghoian create a boarding pass generator, Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) spoke out calling for the site to be shutdown and Soghoian arrested.  Wire has the details.  Unfortunately Markey, a 15 term Congressional Actor from Massachusetts 7th district is running uncontested.

I was up late with some old West Wing in the background when a phrase caught my ear.  Season 4, Episode 17 while Sam Seaborn is running for Congress he is sparring verbally with Toby Ziegler who has just taken over running his campaign:

SAM: I can just cut any change I have for victory.

TOBY: No. The story’s going to be that you actually stuck up for what you believed in, you didn’t cut and run.  And people are gonna remember that, I’m gonna make sure of it.

This thought crossed my mind: does Karl Rove watch West Wing?

This wired article should put our priorities in perspective.