More trouble for Missouri...

Missouri Plan to Let Military Cast Votes by E-Mail Draws Criticism

A plan to make the presidential battleground of Missouri the first state to allow military voters serving in combat zones such as Iraq to cast their absentee ballots via e-mail is renewing concerns about the security of online voting.

Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt, a Republican running for governor, announced the plan Wednesday, saying that "simplifying the voting process for these heroes is the least we can do." The move surprised some computer security experts and voting watchdog groups, who said yesterday that the new rules could lead to Election Day fraud.

Under a deal with the Defense Department, Blunt's office said, Missouri voters serving in designated combat areas will have the option of filling out absentee ballots, scanning them into a computer file and e-mailing the scanned document back to the Defense Department. The department will fax the ballot to local Missouri election officials.

Missouri is the first state to adopt such a system, according to the Defense Department, which sees it as a way to ensure that mail delays do not disenfranchise military voters. "This provides an alternative . . . for citizens who believe the regular absentee ballot cannot be received, voted and returned by mail in time to be counted," said Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a department spokeswoman.

In February, the Defense Department dropped a $22 million pilot plan to test Internet voting for 100,000 U.S. military workers and civilians overseas after a panel of scientists identified security concerns. The agency said it could not ensure the legitimacy of votes cast online.
Missouri's system is different, Krenke said, because it is not entirely based on the Internet. The ballots are signed and then scanned before being e-mailed so local election officials will be able to compare voters' signatures to ones on file.

Service members who use the system will forfeit keeping their ballot secret; the Defense Department and county officials will know the candidates chosen. Krenke said the military will use fax numbers to create an audit trail, and all ballots returned to local election officials will contain an official cover sheet. The type of e-mail software will depend on what is available in the field, she said.

The state has not done an independent study of the new system's security, said Blunt spokesman Spence Jackson. "We trust the military," he said.

But Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert on the board of the National Committee for Voting Integrity, said that the public has a right to more details about how the system will work. How will independent observers ensure that the Defense Department does not "lose ballots?" he asked. "There's been no discussion, no audits, no information about how will it prevent phony votes or hacking. Missouri is setting itself up to be the next Florida."

Elliot M. Mincberg, legal director for the People for the American Way Foundation, said he is concerned service members will feel pressured by commanders and colleagues to give up their right to vote in secret. "We are going to look closely at this," he said.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

For all of you who read the Blog Party and the extension here...

Throw your hands together and email Pat a birthday card, stat!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAT!!!

In celebration of Pat's day, I'm linking to a blog only a mother could love. It's got drama, the f-word, and lots of 80's references. Who could ask for anything more for our beloved Pat on his big day??

Garden State's creator, Zach Braff, is a genius. You must see this movie and get the soundtrack STAT. And here is the promised blog-o-amazement.

DO YOU HEAR ME??? WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS???

CALL PAT AND SAY HAPPY B-DAY ON YOUR WAY TO THE THEATER!

Cartoon Update and more...

Okay, we totally forgot to show the love to Julia, our Wuzzles character name contest winner. On behalf of CIATG, Julia, I'm sorry... and we salute you!

If you go to the Hooray for Hollywood entry and check out the Wuzzles picture, you'll see ALL the Wuzzles (clockwise from top): Rhinokey, Eleroo, Bumblelion, Moosel, Butterbear, Hoppopoatmus.

The bad guy in the Wuzzles was called "Crock," and he was a crocodile.

Someone who loves the Wuzzles even more than we do has spent an inordinate amount of time on a website of their own, which even plays the Wuzzles theme song. Visit the page if you are so inclined.

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I'm not sure if it will still display, but our banner ad earlier was about curing ulcerative colitis. Since, um, none of us have that or have ever discussed it here until now, I'm at a loss to explain it. Aren't banner ads based on the content of the blog??

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NEW Cartoon trivia question: (It's a 70's cartoon this time, folks)



What is Hong Kong Phooey's cat named? (this is a tough one)

MO, land of straight people and One-Term Bob

Why go with OTB when you can have Claire??

also...

Don't be gay in Missouri. You're destined for misery.

now all they need is a chapter house...

For those of you ladies looking to make it big in Washington, DC... look no more.  My comments are inserted throughout.  You'll definitely know which are mine.


Trophy Wives in Training            By Peter Savodnik


Sometime around midnight, a private party of women sipping cosmopolitans at the bar at Blue Gin lets out a collective gasp. The management has opened its doors to the public, and now other people — scruffy, unambitious oglers of unknown political persuasion hoping to pick up 23-year-old press secretaries in their tight red dresses — are on the premises.

“We want to keep an edge of exclusiveness,” explains Caroline Butts, president of The Madison and legislative assistant and deputy communications director for Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.).

Founded late last year by a handful of mostly Hill women in their early 20s looking for good times and professional advancement with 100 members and oodles of girls on the waiting list.

It’s hard to say what The Madison’s raison d’être is [could it be that they desperately miss sorority life?]. Discussing their new social circle, the girls are just as likely to mention “philanthropy” as “networking.” Ending child abuse — this year’s cause — is mentioned almost as frequently as landing a good job, clubbing and meeting “quality” people, i.e., people who get you good jobs and into clubs.

One local news personality, said a Madison higher-up, “calls us trophy wives in training.” She laughs, tucking a strawberry-blond lock behind her ear. “I would be the ultimate trophy wife!”

Of course, Madison women are keenly aware that trophy wives can have fun but not too much fun: No one wants his trophy too tarnished before they walk down the aisle. Tonight The Madison has taken over Blue Gin, just eight weeks old and already among the hippest bars in Washington. Blue Gin is swank, dimly lit and managed by a Frenchman. Plus, they’ve concocted a special Madison Martini just for this evening. (Ingredients include mango rum, fresh raspberry puree and a splash of cranberry juice.)

Downstairs the girls are staking out their turf at the bar, reclining on the miniature couches and talking about their congressmen and their highlights and who’s going to win in November. One junior staffer at “B-C ’04,” asked if the president is going to prevail, quips, “Hells yeah!” While they’re reluctant to acknowledge any partisan leanings, roughly 80 percent are Republican.

It would be easy to paint The Madison as a sort of NC-17 Junior League [oh, if only you really knew, Peter], a cool-but-not-too-cool clique of mostly Southern belles too pretty, too well bred to mingle, let alone procreate, with mere legislative directors. Certainly, the fellows at the Capital Club, The Madison’s male equivalent, see the sisterhood as something of a future first wives club. Said one: “We’re starting a breeding program. We’re going to maintain the blue-blood line.” [do I even have to say it here? Come on.]

It’s not just that The Madison is exclusive. So what? If everyone could join, no one would want to. Good for these ladies for wearing their haughtiness on their sleeves. In a town notorious for its dishonesty and obfuscation, The Madison is refreshingly in-your-face about who’s hot and who’s not.

“We just like to have fun,” says Melissa McKay, who organized this evening’s event, dubbed “Shaken … Not Stirred.” McKay, a recent graduate of the College of Charleston and Rep. Steve King’s (R-Iowa) communications director [Steve King (n) - an evil piece of shit that made working in western Iowa for a Democrat unbearable], adds that outsiders are hardly banned from Madison gigs. Those in attendance included press secretaries for Reps. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) [now I want my mommy] and Eric Cantor (R-Va.) [no one cares who he is.].

What makes The Madison a big, fat target for anyone who isn’t a member is that it looks and feels like a relic of a faraway time and place — before Betty Friedan, Roe v. Wade, the 19th Amendment. There’s a curiously staid quality, a predictability, about going out on the town in the nation’s capital. In New York, everyone is looking for an experience; in Washington, they’re looking for a future; in Washington there’s a lack of edge.

True, the kind of woman who signs up for The Madison — whose last event was titled “Mad in Plaid” — probably isn’t looking for too much edge. Che Guevara never dated the prom queen. Above all, she’s looking for class and sophistication and other people who think and feel like she does.

“D.C. is very transient, so it’s good to have a network while you’re here,” says Butts, the group’s president, who attended Vanderbilt University, where she was social chairwoman of her Kappa Delta sorority [oh, how surprised we are. no.]. For now, she’s pursing a masters degree in government at Johns Hopkins University; one day she’d like to start her own lobbying firm here in Washington. Other Madison women are equally educated, recent college graduates who talk about becoming lawyers and congressional candidates, philanthropists and community leaders.

As the hordes of Other People filter into Blue Gin, two security guards rope off the staircase that leads to the second floor of the bar, where they have been playing 007 flicks as partygoers sip martinis, stare through the large glass blocks in the floor and wave at their friends coming in down below.

The women glance at their hair in the mirror behind the bar, in between the bottles of Tanquerray and Stoli and Absolut. They are growing a bit bored with all the newcomers and the noise. “You can’t hear yourself,” someone says. “What?” says her friend. “I said, ‘You can’t hear yourself!’” she blares.  [Give me the 'Berg ANYDAY over this BS]

The bouncers, dressed in black suits, are getting ready to stop letting anyone else in. The club has just about maxed out at its 350-person limit. McKay, the evening’s organizer, explains how someone goes about getting into The Madison. “It’s going to be on references.” Behind her, on the other side of the looking glass, is a long line of strangers craning their necks to get a look at the bouncers. “The more members you meet,” she says, “the better chance you have of getting in.”

The Days ...

Just when you thought your family had the monopoly on being uber-fucked-up...
 
Just when you thought daytime TV had the only baby-mama-drama...
 
along comes the new ABC series "The Days," airing every Sunday at 10/9c.  Don't worry, last night was just the pilot episode, so you've only missed one.  I can't go as far as to say you haven't missed much, though.
 
This show is ABC's incredibly desperate attempt to get back in the ratings game.  Looks like they were too afraid of this show to test it on a weeknight (VP of Programming Ops needs to grow some balls).  They needn't have worried.   "The Days" pilot episode was like watching a train wreck.  No way all this stuff could have happened to a real family.   I would warn of spoilers to follow here, but I don't think it's going to re-air, and if you don't know what happens first, you'll never understand the show.
 
* Popular soccer star daughter gets knocked up by popular football star boyfriend. boo hoo.
 
* Dad enters messed up existential crisis and quits job as attorney.  (There goes the Prada backpack Miss Popular wanted for Christmas.)
 
* Angsty pubescent little brother of Miss Popular decks impregnator and gets his ass kicked.
 
* Tortured 9 year old genius child smitten with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks; runs away and takes the public bus to her house to give her flowers.  Is rewarded with kiss on cheek.  Damn, playa.
 
* Impregnator tells Miss Popular he's happy to go with her to the abortion clinic.  Asshole.  Scene designed to make you hate him, which, of course, you gladly do. Bastard.
 
* Episode concludes with Mom finding out she also is pregnant.  Then Mom and Dad decide to make dinner at midnight.  Does Child Protective Services know about these parents?
 
With all this drama, who needs Passions or General Hospital? ppppsssshhhhhh.  Of course, I can make fun of this shit all I want, but I AM SO ADDICTED! Do not call me during this show or I will kick your ass.