Did the most powerful Republicans in America have the computer capacity, software skills and electronic infrastructure in place on Election Night 2004 to tamper with the Ohio results to ensure George W. Bush's re-election?
The answer appears to be yes. There is more than ample documentation to show that on Election Night 2004, Ohio's "official" Secretary of State website -- which gave the world the presidential election results -- was redirected from an Ohio government server to a group of servers that contain scores of Republican web sites, including the secret White House e-mail accounts that have emerged in the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's firing of eight federal prosecutors.
This is troubling. Comments on Slashdot are informative. Its not really clear there is a problem here beyond the fact that Ohio (like many states) has a partisan appointee running their elections commission and they picked the same outsourcing partner. I think elections in the US should be operated by the federal government. Basically, the propriety of Ohio's elections impacts who my President is, and so I ought to have a say in how they operate their election.
Blue Angels jet crashes during air show, killing aviator - CNN.com
Topic: Current Events
9:14 pm EDT, Apr 21, 2007
A jet flying in formation with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels precision flying team crashed into a Beaufort, South Carolina, neighborhood, causing an "enormous fireball" during an air show, authorities said.
The Navy aviator was killed, Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland said. The F/A-18's pilot is the only known fatality. The aviator's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
My condolences go out to the family of the dead aviator and the other members of the team. I am a huge fan of the Blue Angels. I have seen them preform at least 4 times now, and every time I'm always in awe.
In particular, when I've seen them preform over San Francisco. It's an amazing thing to behold. The people who make that team are unbelievably skilled..
AOL News has obtained two plays a classmate says were written by Cho Seung-Hui. Ian MacFarlane, the former classmate and current AOL employee, provided us with the plays. A note from Mr. MacFarlane and links to the works appear below.
This kid was seriously disturbed. As information is coming out about this guy, it seems he was giving every warning sign that he was a problem waiting to happen.
New Jersey governor critically injured in motorcade crash while Imus meets with Rutgers team
Topic: Current Events
4:20 am EDT, Apr 13, 2007
Gov. Jon S. Corzine was critically injured when his motorcade crashed en route to a meeting between radio personality Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team, a doctor said.
Corzine, 60, suffered numerous broken bones but his injuries were not considered life-threatening, officials said. He was recuperating early Friday at Cooper University Hospital in Camden after two hours of surgery to repair a seriously damaged leg and other injuries.
Doctors also inserted a breathing tube that would remain "for days to weeks, until [Corzine] is able to breathe on his own again," Ostrum said.
Corzine had a broken sternum, a broken collarbone, a slight fracture of his lower vertebrae, a broken left leg, six broken ribs on each side and a laceration on his head, said Dr. Steven Ross, head of trauma for the hospital.
Corzine was riding in his two-car motorcade's sports utility vehicle when a white pickup truck swerved to avoid a red pickup truck that had corrected itself after driving onto the right shoulder of the Garden State Parkway around 6 p.m. EDT, said State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes.
The Rutgers team -- including the 10 players, their parents, coaches, administrators and religious leaders -- met with Imus Thursday night at the New Jersey Governor's Mansion.
"We were able to really dialogue," said coach C. Vivian Stringer. "I thought it was productive. I am extremely proud of our 10 young basketball members. I have been throughout this entire ordeal."
Stringer declined to talk about what was said during the meeting or the CBS decision.
And Codey is in charge of the state again. Sigh...
Johnny Cash's longtime lakeside home, a showcase where he wrote much of his famous music and entertained U.S. presidents, music royalty and visiting fans, was destroyed by fire on Tuesday.
Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived in the 13,880-square-foot (1,289-square-meter) home from the late 1960s until their deaths in 2003.
"So many prominent things and prominent people in American history took place in that house -- everyone from Billy Graham to Bob Dylan went into that house," said singer Marty Stuart, who lives next door and was married to Cash's daughter, Cindy, in the 1980s.
Stuart said the man who designed the house, Nashville builder Braxton Dixon, was "the closest thing this part of the country had to Frank Lloyd Wright."
When Cash moved there, the road was a quiet country lane that skirts Old Hickory Lake. Kris Kristofferson, then an aspiring songwriter, once landed a helicopter on Cash's lawn to pitch him a song. Roy Orbison was his next-door neighbor for a while.
The landmark video for Cash's song "Hurt" was shot inside the house.
"It was a sanctuary and a fortress for him," Stuart said. "There was a lot of writing that took place there."
Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys lives on the same road as Cash. "Maybe it's the good Lord's way to make sure that it was only Johnny's house," Sterban said.
Angry lawyers scuffled with police as protests erupted across Pakistan Wednesday over the removal of nation's top judge, intensifying a crisis that threatens President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's grip on power.
Lawyers, in suits, in the street, with rocks, "scuffling" with police. Seriously. They should have had a section about that in the book of revelations.
President Bush opened a weeklong tour of Latin America on Thursday as police clashed with protesters in Brazil and across the region.
Riot police fired tear gas and beat some protesters with batons after more than 6,000 people held a largely peaceful march through the financial district. And in the southern city of Porto Alegre, more than 500 people yelled, "Get out, imperialist!" as they burned an effigy of Bush outside a Citigroup Inc. bank branch.
Meanwhile, the police commander of Colombia, which Bush will visit on Sunday, said authorities had thwarted leftist rebel plans to disrupt Bush's visit to Bogota.
"We have taken measures to neutralize them," said Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro, Colombia's highest-ranking police officer.
Also in Colombia, at Bogota's National University, 200 masked students clashed with 300 anti-riot police and shouted "Out, Bush." In Mexico City, about two dozen demonstrators gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy chanting slogans against Bush and the U.S. project to construct border fences.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Bush "enjoys traveling to thriving democracies where freedom of speech and expression are the law of the land." Bush himself played down expected protests in interviews with Latin American news organizations ahead of his trip.
"I am proud to be going to a part of the world where people can demonstrate, where people can express their minds," he said in an interview with Univision.
He told CNN En Espanol: "The trip is to remind people that we care."
Take note of this picture. The welcome mat isn't exactly rolled out...
We pushed a bug fix to production late last night which should address a problem with Recommend. If you've noticed people have %22 in their posts instead of a ", or have had the URL for hyperlinks, images, or videos in a post you were creating suddenly disappear, that shouldn't happen anymore. Let Decius or me know if there are any problems.
cbs4boston.com - Hoax Devices Creating Gridlock In Boston
Topic: Current Events
4:14 pm EST, Jan 31, 2007
Bomb units scrambled across Boston and Somerville today to investigate several suspicious devices.
The reports forced the temporary shutdowns of Interstate 93 out of the city, a key inbound roadway, a bridge between Boston and Cambridge, and a portion of the Charles River but were quickly determined not to be explosive.
"It's a hoax -- and it's not funny," Gov. Deval Patrick said.
Officials at Mayor Menino's office say the devices appear to resemble a cartoon character. It could be related to characters from the cartoon, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."
Heh.. It was a marketing campaign. Adult Swim paralyzed Boston. I don't care what anyone says, this is funny as hell. I mean, everyone know that having LEDs in the shape of a cartoon character is the perfect way to disguise an IED...
