E-voting: Flawed Florida systems unsafe says Sancho
Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho started testing his e-voting system earlier this year. He quickly determined that an insider, or someone who gained access to the inside, could easily manipulate vote totals.
Now, with a decision to scrap the old system in favor of a new model, Sancho has tested some more, allowing experts access to the central computer that tabulates votes in an election. The experts were able to change results and leave no trace whatsoever.
Tests show some Diebold voting machines used in Florida and elsewhere around the nation can be hacked by election office insiders to change results, Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho charged Thursday.
Sancho said the tests on optical machines that scan paper ballots, conducted for his office and a monitoring group, also indicated they can be manipulated without leaving any evidence of tampering.
"This is not supposed to be possible," Sancho said. "We did it."
Diebold spokesman David Bear discounted the tests as unrealistic because they bypassed normal security procedures.
"If I gave you the keys to my house and I turned off the alarm and told you when I wasn't going to be home, I don't doubt you can get into my house," Bear said. "But is that going to have any effect on the election? Absolutely not."
......He was unable then, however, to test if altered results on the cards could be uploaded into his mainframe computer because he was afraid it might be contaminated. He said he performed the upload this week only after county commissioners approved his request to buy a new optical scan system from another company.
The hacked results transferred into the mainframe although Diebold had contended its software would prevent that, Sancho said.
......Bear said the tests were unrealistic because polling places and vote-counting centers are filled with observers, including representatives of both major political parties, who are watching for such tampering. Sancho said the system could be hacked by an elections staffer or technician beforehand to produce faulty results.
......Most of the debate over voting machines in Florida has focused on touch-screen computer systems because the state doesn't require that they also spit out paper records that can be counted by hand if needed.
That makes Sancho's tests somewhat ironic, Bear said.
"Now we're not trusting paper," he said. "Somebody could also steal the pencil and then you couldn't mark the ballot."
Paper ballots are examined only during a recount triggered when results are very close, Sancho said. He said they would never come into play if an election thief made sure the difference was larger.
.....In 2003, Diebold's then-CEO Walden W. O'Dell invited people to a fundraiser for President Bush with a letter stating he planned to help "Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president." Ohio turned out to be the state that clinched Bush's re-election in 2004.
Here's how a system like Leon County's works: data is moved from individual voting machines via flash memory cards - in Leon County's case, these machines are optical scanners which have tabulated votes at precincts. Other counties use touch screens but transfer data with similar flash cards.
The flash cards, just like the ones in digital cameras and phones, are transported to the central office and fed into the central computer. The central computer then tallies the votes and spits out a result.
Sancho's tests show that flash cards can be altered with no trace. A person could simply pre-program the card with bogus numbers and no one would be the wiser. This has always been a much more likely scenario than someone hacking in from the outside, though media, fed by the GOP, like to present (and mock as partisan conspiracy theory) the much sexier Internet hacking scenario in which some geek breaks in through a home computer.
Diebold, the manufacturer of Leon and many other county machines, is pissed, but is offering no real defense – they are belittling the very idea of testing their equipment while screaming about licensing agreements and warning ominously that Sancho's soon to be replaced machines could now be compromised.
And the state of Florida is not very concerned.
Ion Sancho, Leon County's election chief, said tests by two computer experts, completed this week, showed that an insider could surreptitiously change vote results and the number of ballots cast on Diebold's optical-scan machines.
......The Leon County test results are likely to further fuel suspicions that the new electronic voting systems in Florida, in place since the 2002 elections, are susceptible to manipulation.
When the debate hit fever pitch before last year's presidential election, many conservatives said questions about the machinery were a liberal ploy to undermine confidence in the voting system.
......Sancho said Diebold isn't the only one to blame for hacker-prone equipment. The Florida secretary of state's office should have caught these problems early on, he said, and the Legislature should scrap a law severely restricting recounts on touch-screen machines and equip them with the means of producing a paper trail.
A spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office said any faults Sancho found were between him and Diebold.
''If Ion Sancho has security concerns with his system, he needs to discuss them with Diebold,'' spokeswoman Jenny Nash said.
......Sancho said he tried to discuss the problems with Diebold, but met with resistance. On Monday, he did one final test with Hursti at the Leon County supervisor's office, Hursti hacked the memory card to spit out seven ''yes'' votes on an issue and one ''no'' vote.
Then, six ''no'' votes and two ''yes'' votes were cast into the machine the same way voters would. Those results didn't show up in the final tally -- just the ones hacked into the card.
......''These were sold as safe systems. They passed tests as safe systems,'' Sancho said. ``But even in the so-called safe system, if you don't follow the paper ballots, there is a way to rig the election. Except it's not a bunch of guys stuffing ballots in a precinct. It's possibly one person acting in secret changing thousands of votes in a second.''
This could all be easily solved with a paper trail. Optical scan systems like Leon County's are preferred, but touch screens can be equipped with printers. Combine a paper trail with random audits of precincts and individual machines, comparing paper and electronic tallies, and it suddenly becomes much more difficult to rig an election.
In truth, it isn't surprising that a dedicated hacker can break into election machines. After all, hackers have broken into computers at IBM, the Department of Defense and elsewhere.
What is troubling, though, is that the Florida Legislature and state election officials haven't done all that they can to make sure that Florida's elections aren't an invitation to fraud or abuse. Florida does not require a paper trail for votes, which would give election supervisors a means to verify the accuracy of a machine count.
......At minimum, the state should require more testing of voting machines and audits of elections. Ultimately, though, the state should require that all voting machinery provide a paper trail. Banks already do that with receipts for ATM transactions. Voters deserve the same consideration.
Al-Arian acquitted
The most telling moment of the Al-Arian trial came when his lawyers opted to put on no defense. They simply declined to answer what they said was insufficient evidence presented by the government to prove their client's guilt. Apparently, the jury agreed.
Once billed as a major strike in the war on terrorism, the case against Sami Al-Arian crumbled Tuesday when jurors rejected federal charges that Al-Arian and three co-defendants operated a North American cell for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Tears of joy at the defense table met with blank expressions of shock among prosecutors after jurors deadlocked on nine counts against Al-Arian and found him not guilty of conspiring to commit murder abroad, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
......Defendants Sameeh Hammoudeh and Ghassan Ballut were acquitted on all counts. Hatim Fariz was acquitted on the counts on which jurors could reach a verdict.
......"This ranks as one of the most significant defeats for the U.S. government, for the Justice Department since 9/11," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University Law School who has represented other terrorism defendants.
"The Justice Department spent copious amounts of money and time to make the case against Al-Arian."
......One juror, who gave only her first name, said prosecutors failed to connect the dots on the conspiracies charged. Jurors were left to assume the defendants were aiding the Islamic Jihad even when the evidence didn't prove it, said Thanh, a 38-year-old department store sales associate from Lakeland.
......U.S. Attorney Paul Perez first had no comment when asked what effect the verdicts would have on the country's war against terrorism. But then he said, "I don't think there's any connection between the two things."
That's at odds with statements he and Ashcroft made in announcing the indictment.
Then, Perez called the defendants "major terrorist financial supporters who took advantage of the freedoms of an open society to help foster anti-Western violence."
"We have an extensive record in breaking up terrorist financing," Ashcroft said. "Our record on terrorist financing is clear: We will hunt down the suppliers of terrorist blood money, we will shut down these sources, and we will ensure that both terrorists and their financiers meet the same swift, certain justice of the United States of America.""
Al-Arian has been defending himself against these charges for years. First, the Tampa Tribune attacked him in print. Then, he was arrested and held in solitary while Bill O'Reilly churned up enough outrage to have him fired from his professorship at USF. Finally, he was charged, with John Ashcroft announcing the indictments with great fanfare and much talk about the Bush regime's winning strategy against terror.
In the end, not a single guilty verdict was returned after a six-month trial that included more than 80 witnesses and 400 transcripts of intercepted phone conversations and faxes.
The verdicts were a major defeat for the federal government, which characterized Al-Arian's indictment as a major case against terrorism, and a victory for Al-Arian's attorneys, who considered the government's case so weak they they declined to put on a defense.
......But officials with the U.S. Justice Department, which investigated Al-Arian for years before filing charges, are still deciding whether to retry Al-Arian and co-defendant Hatem Fariz on charges for which the jury deadlocked.
One remaining charge against Al-Arian and Fariz, a racketeering conspiracy charge, carries a potential life sentence. Al-Arian was returned to the Hillsborough jail after the verdict. His attorneys could try to get him out on bail but said it was likely immigration officials would immediately pick him up for detention. "The Justice Department has a strong track record of success in prosecuting terrorists and those who support terrorist activities. We remain focused on the important task at hand, which is to protect our country through our ongoing vigorous prosecution of terrorism cases," said Tasia Scolinos, director of public affairs for the U.S. Justice Department.
......A spokeswoman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Tuesday the agency would work with the Department of Homeland Security to deport Al-Arian, who is not a U.S. citizen, at the conclusion of legal proceedings.
Al-Arian attorney William Moffitt called that move "totally vindictive" since Al-Arian has not been convicted of any crimes.
......Al-Arian went from computer science professor to controversial international figure in the decade after a television documentary and articles in the Tampa Tribune raised questions about terrorist ties to a think tank he ran at USF.
FBI agents tapped his phones for nine years. They twice raided his home and offices, taking dozens of boxes of personal belongings. He was arrested in February 2003 and fired by USF in that same month. He spent the past three years in jail, much of it in solitary confinement, charged with 17 counts of terrorism-related activities. His trial began June 6, 2005. It ended Tuesday, exactly six months later.
......As it turned out, the great majority of jurors wanted to acquit Al-Arian and the three co-defendants on all charges. But, they say, two to three others held out for conviction, which resulted in a hung jury on a combined 17 counts for Fariz and Al-Arian.
"Usually, there were 10 of us for acquittal on the charges, sometimes nine of us," said Ron, a juror from Pasco County who did not want his last name used. Because of the nature of the terrorism case, the government kept jurors' identities sealed from the public.
"Of course, we hate terrorism," said Ron. "But the evidence making these guys terrorists just wasn't there."
......Beyond the question of whether Al-Arian and those associated with him violated federal law, the trial did shed some light on unresolved questions about Al-Arian.
Wiretap conversations clearly show that, during the time he was presenting himself as an independent advocate of Palestinian rights, he was, in fact, deeply involved with PIJ, proposing changes in their leadership structure, overall strategy and financial management. Those discussions did not include talk of violent acts.
Moreover, evidence showed that top employees of WISE, including Al-Arian's brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar, were receiving payments from PIJ while they were working in Tampa for the think tank and the university.
After five months of prosecution evidence, Al-Arian's defense attorneys caused a stir Oct. 27 when they rested without putting on a defense.
"Because there is a document called the U.S. Constitution - unless we're about to repeal it - it protects Dr. Al-Arian's right to speak, and the government has not proven that Dr. Al-Arian has done anything but speak. . . . The fact that Dr. Al-Arian is a Palestinian deprives him of no civil rights," said Moffitt, explaining the decision.
Now, having been acquitted, he'll be rapidly deported. USF wont consider reinstating him, and Bush's justice department will probably just slink away from a second and possibly even more humiliating trial.
Judge rules for constitution
A Hillsborough judge on Thursday ordered a halt to pat-down searches before Tampa Bay Buccaneers games at Raymond James Stadium.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Perry A. Little issued the temporary injunction nearly two weeks after high school civics teacher Gordon Johnston, 60, sued the Tampa Sports Authority, claiming its decision to implement the searches was unconstitutional.
Little said he initially had doubts about the complaint, but in the end was convinced by legal precedents that the NFL-mandated searches should end.
"I didn't think personally that what the Tampa Sports Authority was requiring was unreasonable, but our personal beliefs are not the standard we must be guided by," Little said from the bench. "A random search of 65,000 people every Sunday is not the way."
Under the judge's ruling, the Tampa Sports Authority has a right to appeal the injunction and can fight to reinstate the pat-downs in a civil court proceeding.
Until then, however, Bucs fans will not be subject to the controversial searches at home games, including the next one Nov. 6 against the Carolina Panthers. If Johnston wins his lawsuit, the pat-downs would be permanently banned.
......"9/11 was a tragedy in and of itself, but that doesn't mean, in my opinion, the Constitution has to be ripped up and thrown out the door," Little said.
The Tampa Sports Authority began the searches this year as an antiterrorism measure mandated by the National Football League.
Two weeks ago, high school civics teacher Gordon Johnston, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit against the Tampa Sports Authority asking for an end to physical searches.
......John Goldsmith, who represented Johnston, congratulated his client.
"I think a lot of times the easiest thing for people is to go along," Goldsmith said. "Unfortunately, going along is what allows our constitutional rights to be violated. It takes somebody who's willing to stand up and protest to make our country work."
Richard Zabak, who represents the sports authority, said he was disappointed by the ruling and was not sure what authority officials will do next.
"We respectfully disagree," he said. "I don't know how this is going to evolve."
The injunction's effect on the rest of the nation was unclear Thursday.
NFL officials stood by their policy.
"We are disappointed by this initial decision," said Greg Aiello, an NFL spokesman. "Pat-downs at other NFL stadiums should not be affected by this ruling. We believe these limited screenings are reasonable and important to the protection of our fans."
......In closing arguments Thursday, Goldsmith asked a rhetorical question: "Where do we draw the line?"
Do we pat-down people when they leave their house, he asked; do we search them before they get on a bus; do we search them before a baseball game or a basketball game?
"To permit that is to undo the very principles this country was founded on," he said.
Well, the pat downs are gone, for now, as they should be. But what both articles seem to be missing is that the case hinges on the fact that the searches are being paid for by a governmental agency. If the Bucs decide to bear the cost themselves, the intrusive unconstitutional searches may well resume.
Ending the drug war
Despite the length of quoted text, I left a lot out. Go read the whole thing.
Let those dopers be
# A former police chief wants to end a losing war by legalizing pot, coke, meth and other drugsBy Norm Stamper, Norm Stamper is the former chief of the Seattle Police Department. He is the author of "Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Exposé of the Dark Side of American Policing" (Nation Books, 2005).
SOMETIMES PEOPLE in law enforcement will hear it whispered that I'm a former cop who favors decriminalization of marijuana laws, and they'll approach me the way they might a traitor or snitch. So let me set the record straight.
Yes, I was a cop for 34 years, the last six of which I spent as chief of Seattle's police department.
But no, I don't favor decriminalization. I favor legalization, and not just of pot but of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, psychotropics, mushrooms and LSD.
Decriminalization, as my colleagues in the drug reform movement hasten to inform me, takes the crime out of using drugs but continues to classify possession and use as a public offense, punishable by fines.
I've never understood why adults shouldn't enjoy the same right to use verboten drugs as they have to suck on a Marlboro or knock back a scotch and water.
......It's not a stretch to conclude that our draconian approach to drug use is the most injurious domestic policy since slavery. Want to cut back on prison overcrowding and save a bundle on the construction of new facilities? Open the doors, let the nonviolent drug offenders go. The huge increases in federal and state prison populations during the 1980s and '90s (from 139 per 100,000 residents in 1980 to 482 per 100,000 in 2003) were mainly for drug convictions. In 1980, 580,900 Americans were arrested on drug charges. By 2003, that figure had ballooned to 1,678,200. We're making more arrests for drug offenses than for murder, manslaughter, forcible rape and aggravated assault combined. Feel safer?
I've witnessed the devastating effects of open-air drug markets in residential neighborhoods: children recruited as runners, mules and lookouts; drug dealers and innocent citizens shot dead in firefights between rival traffickers bent on protecting or expanding their markets; dedicated narcotics officers tortured and killed in the line of duty; prisons filled with nonviolent drug offenders; and drug-related foreign policies that foster political instability, wreak health and environmental disasters, and make life even tougher for indigenous subsistence farmers in places such as Latin America and Afghanistan. All because we like our drugs — and can't have them without breaking the law.
......In declaring a war on drugs, we've declared war on our fellow citizens. War requires "hostiles" — enemies we can demonize, fear and loathe. This unfortunate categorization of millions of our citizens justifies treating them as dope fiends, evil-doers, less than human. That grants political license to ban the exchange or purchase of clean needles or to withhold methadone from heroin addicts motivated to kick the addiction.
......How would "regulated legalization" work? It would: 1) Permit private companies to compete for licenses to cultivate, harvest, manufacture, package and peddle drugs.
2) Create a new federal regulatory agency (with no apologies to libertarians or paleo-conservatives).
3) Set and enforce standards of sanitation, potency and purity.
4) Ban advertising.
5) Impose (with congressional approval) taxes, fees and fines to be used for drug-abuse prevention and treatment and to cover the costs of administering the new regulatory agency.
6) Police the industry much as alcoholic beverage control agencies keep a watch on bars and liquor stores at the state level. Such reforms would in no way excuse drug users who commit crimes: driving while impaired, providing drugs to minors, stealing an iPod or a Lexus, assaulting one's spouse, abusing one's child. The message is simple. Get loaded, commit a crime, do the time.
These reforms would yield major reductions in a host of predatory street crimes, a disproportionate number of which are committed by users who resort to stealing in order to support their habit or addiction.
Regulated legalization would soon dry up most stockpiles of currently illicit drugs — substances of uneven, often questionable quality (including "bunk," i.e., fakes such as oregano, gypsum, baking powder or even poisons passed off as the genuine article). It would extract from today's drug dealing the obscene profits that attract the needy and the greedy and fuel armed violence. And it would put most of those certifiably frightening crystal meth labs out of business once and for all.
Combined with treatment, education and other public health programs for drug abusers, regulated legalization would make your city or town an infinitely healthier place to live and raise a family.
The demand for illicit drugs is as strong as the nation's thirst for bootleg booze during Prohibition. It's a demand that simply will not dwindle or dry up. Whether to find God, heighten sexual arousal, relieve physical pain, drown one's sorrows or simply feel good, people throughout the millenniums have turned to mood- and mind-altering substances.
Once again, Joe steps up to defend us all
Joe Redner got rich by founding Tampa's most famous attraction. The Mons Venus is known around the world, and casual tourists and businesses travelers who find themselves in the area are often more interested in the location of the Mons than the site of their meetings or reunions.
In an industry with a reputation for sleazy business practices, Joe has always stood out as a progressive minded employer – he treats everyone with respect, makes sure they earn a good living, and generally does more for his workers than the laws of competition and governments demand.
Having made a couple thousand butt loads of cash, Joe feels that it is only fair to give something back to the community in which he made his fortune. He does this through generous charitable giving and, more importantly, through his numerous fights against local bullies for what's right.
To put it mildly, he is a thorn in the side of those who would strip our rights and liberties. He knows the law, and he has the money and lawyers and experience to drive his points home. Even when he loses in court, his actions give pause to those in power who would have us living in a semi-theocratic society ruled by hypocritical moralists who lack the will power to live by their own decrees.
Yesterday, Joe filed suit against the members of the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners over their hateful Hillsborough Homophobia campaign. Some say he has a weak case because he personally has not been harmed by the ordinance that mandates the county "abstain from acknowledging, promoting and participating" in gay pride events, but Joe and other thoughtful folks realize that on ordinance of this nature hurts all county residents by legislating hatred and fear and encouraging discrimination.
Oh, and since Joe still runs one of Tampa's top tourist destinations, an argument can be made that negative national publicity could very well harm him personally.
Redner said he will serve the nine-page lawsuit to commissioners at 9 this morning as they gather for their regular board meeting at the county center.
"Our county commission members need to be taught a lesson, so I'll try to do it," Redner said Tuesday.
The lawsuit in Hillsborough Circuit Court seeks an injunction against the policy for violating constitutional free speech and equal protection rights.
"Too bad in your law school days you didn't learn about the First Amendment and content discrimination," the lawsuit quotes Redner as saying during the meeting in June when commissioners approved the policy.
His remark was aimed at Commissioner Ronda Storms, who proposed the policy after a few parents complained about a Gay Pride Month display at West Gate Regional Library.
Commissioners Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, Tom Scott, Brian Blair and Mark Sharpe also voted for the policy and a second motion to require a public hearing and supermajority vote by the board to overturn the policy.
Commissioner Kathy Castor voted against both measures and is not named in the lawsuit.
County Attorney Renee Lee said late Tuesday that she hadn't seen the lawsuit.
"I don't know how [Redner] is affected by it," Lee said. "To make these things stick, you've got to generally show you've been affected differently than others."
The SP Times has more.
Activist and strip club owner Joe Redner on Tuesday sued Hillsborough County, saying a June 15 vote by county commissioners to abstain from acknowledging, promoting or participating in gay pride events is unconstitutional.
The suit also names six commissioners individually - Brian Blair, Ken Hagan, Jim Norman, Tom Scott, Mark Sharpe and Ronda Storms. Commissioner Kathy Castor, who voted against the measure and has spoken out against it, was not named.
Redner argues that the policy violates his First Amendment right under the U.S. Constitution to receive information at local libraries. He says the commissioners "imposed a ban on one particular group but not on any other groups" and their actions constitute a "prior restraint on protected speech" that fails to "further a compelling government interest."
Redner's complaint also argues that the policy violates due process and equal protection provided by the Constitution by singling out a group. Commissioners "have not targeted other groups or topics featured in library displays," the suit says.
Redner is asking the court to declare the policy unconstitutional, issue an injunction until a trial is scheduled and require the county to pay court costs.
"They should have known they were violating the Constitution," he said Tuesday. "My goal is to show them they are liable for doing that. . . . Someone has to call them on it."
BlogWood Hillsborough Homophobia coverage.
Hold on while I drop my pants, bend over, and grab my ankles…
The Tampa Sports Authority got its first look Monday at what the legal bill might be to defend the NFL's pat-down policy in court this week. The who-pays scoreboard reads like this: taxpayers, $10,000 to $15,000; NFL, zero.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tenants of the stadium run by the sports authority, have not pitched in to help pay for the TSA's legal expenses in a challenge over searching fans. A high school civics teacher sued the sports authority last week over the constitutionality of the NFL-mandated security pat-downs at Bucs games.
Richard M. Zabak, a lawyer at the Tampa firm of Gray Robinson, said the NFL will not reimburse the TSA for defending a league mandate that requires security at NFL venues to search for bombs and weapons.
Instead, the NFL will supply legal research and support to the TSA, said Zabak, who was hired to represent the sports authority in the pat-down legal challenge. Zabak said he did not know the value of the NFL's legal help.
"I hope somebody gets back to the NFL and tells them it feels a bit lonesome out here," Patrick Manteiga, chairman of the 11-member TSA board, said of not getting financial help from the NFL.
Jim Norman, the Hillsborough County Commission chairman, who sits on the TSA board, said the sports authority should move ahead in defending the pat-down policy in court and not agitate the NFL. Norman said it is important to consider the "big picture," which he said includes the NFL awarding Super Bowls to the Tampa Bay area.
Oh yeah... Super Bowls...
The Tampa Sports Authority will fight a lawsuit filed last week challenging the legality of fan pat-downs at Raymond James Stadium, but it wants the National Football League to pay for its lawyers.
Sports Authority members voted unanimously Monday to oppose Hillsborough County resident Gordon Johnston's lawsuit when it goes to court Wednesday for an emergency hearing. But some board members expressed frustration that taxpayers will have to pay to defend a security measure that the NFL mandated.
They were already frustrated that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have refused to pay the added cost of security to carry out the pat-downs.
"My main concern ... is that taxpayers pick up the tab," said board member Mark Proctor.
Attorneys for the Sports Authority presented board members with an option Monday that they simply not put up a defense of the pat-down policy. With no defense, a judge would likely side with Johnston, who claims the pat-downs violate state and U.S. constitutional protections against unreasonable government searches.
More likely, such a move would have forced the league to bear the brunt of the defense in what is believed to be the first legal challenge of the practice. The outcome of the case could affect how other cities deal with the issue.
Hillsborough Commissioner Jim Norman, who sits on the Sports Authority, cautioned board members against taking a position that would be seen as antagonistic to the NFL. Noting that Tampa will host the 2009 Super Bowl, he urged a more conciliatory approach.
"There is a bigger picture here than just the pat-downs," Norman said. "We have a long-term opportunity in this community with the NFL."
At his request, board members instead voted to ask the NFL and the Buccaneers to join the lawsuit and at least help pay for the cost of defending the pat-downs. That request will be made Friday, when Sports Authority officials were already planning to meet with Buccaneers representatives in an attempt to convince the team to pay for the pat-downs.
Oh, and now that I'm bent over and presenting myself to you, would you mind picking up part of the tab for the lube that I've already paid for? I mean, if it wouldn't be too much trouble. Oh – you're not gonna use any lube? Hmmmmm... Well, I don't want to antagonize you, so I'll just try not to scream or bleed on you. Now, would you like me to squeal like a pig?
Bucs fan: ”Don’t touch!”
A Tampa Bay Buccaneers season ticket holder, backed by the ACLU of Florida, has filed suit to stop the pat-downs of fans going to football games at Raymond James Stadium.
The fan, Gordon Johnston, a high school civics teacher, said in a statement that he renewed his season tickets for this year and was never informed he would be subject to the pat-down searches recently mandated by the National Football League. He said the Bucs refused to give him a refund of his season ticket money when he asked.
Now, the ACLU has filed the lawsuit against the Tampa Sports Authority, which runs the stadium, asking the court to declare the rule in violation of the Florida Constitution.
"Football fans should not be forced to surrender our constitutional rights as the price of admission to the stadium," Johnston said in a statement. "I am challenging these pat-down searches because I don't like the idea of myself, my wife and my friends being touched without our consent."
The NFL said in August it was requiring all teams to conduct the pat-downs of fans, in an attempt to prevent a terrorist attack by someone with explosives who gained entrance to a stadium.
Palm Beach supports law and order
Palm Beach just passed a buffer law to give women some relief from the American Taliban - domestic terrorists who use violence and intimidation to further their quest for total control over women's personal medical decisions.
City commissioners on Monday approved a law that will prohibit anti-abortion protesters from coming any closer than 20 feet to the driveways of the last remaining Palm Beach County clinic that provides abortions, nearly three months after someone set fire to it.
Planned Parenthood Vice President of Public Policy Helen Reid (center) celebrates outside city hall after West Palm Beach approved the buffer zone Monday.
A related measure passed Monday prohibits "amplified sound" and "unnecessary noise" within 100 feet of the Presidential Women's Center and other medical facilities in the city.
The law takes effect on Oct. 6, meaning that what some call "sidewalk counseling" and others call "terrorism" can take place outside the center for one more Saturday, the busiest day, without the buffer zone.
Jeb! uses state money to stifle choice
His own GOP dominated legislature wouldn't give him the cash for a "Pregnancy Support Services Program," so he snuck in a line item in his office budget for "crisis counseling." As previously noted, the GOP, and especially Jeb!, just don't like democracy.
Gov. Jeb Bush is pushing forward with a $2 million state-sponsored, anti-abortion contract that will include a toll-free hot line directing pregnant women exclusively to local service providers who do not provide abortions.
Bids on the contract must be submitted by 2 p.m. Monday, and are limited to agencies that "adhere to a strict policy of not promoting, referring, or counseling for abortion," according to Bush's request for proposals.
Bush had asked lawmakers for $4 million in the state's health and human services budget to fund the "Pregnancy Support Services Program."
Instead, he wound up with half that amount in his own office budget in a line item called "crisis counseling."
Abortion-rights advocates and opponents, as well as some lawmakers, were unaware the funds were included in the budget when asked about it.
The contract makes Florida one of just a handful of states to use taxpayer dollars to support anti-abortion agencies.
Bush's plan is based on a similar program in Pennsylvania, paid for by the state's Department of Public Welfare and administered by Real Alternatives, a nonprofit organization based in Harrisburg.
......The Florida plan awards a single contractor $2 million to set up the hot line, coordinate with local organizations to provide "information, education, counseling and support services solely to encourage and promote childbirth," and launch a statewide ad campaign publicizing the 800 number.
Abortion-rights proponent Stephanie Grutman of Planned Parenthood said that the $2 million could pay for 55,000 cycles of birth control for low-income women.
"Think about how many unintended pregnancies we could prevent," she said.
Grutman said Planned Parenthood is considering challenging the contract in court.
GOP’s fradulent logic
Republicans know that they can't win in an actual democracy. That's why they often cry fraud in an attempt to disenfranchise black voters.
Georgia's crackdown on voter fraud would be more credible if it actually pursued fraud. But the new requirement for photo IDs at the polls does nothing to address absentee ballots, where there is considerable evidence of abuse. Instead it burdens the poor and elderly and mostly black voters who have no drivers' licenses, which is why it is impossible to ignore the poisonous politics at play.
The bill was rushed through the Republican-controlled General Assembly this spring over the strenuous objections of African-American lawmakers, some of whom walked out in protest. It was signed into law by a Republican governor, Sonny Perdue, who called it merely a "common sense step to ensure voter integrity and sound elections."
The funny thing is, Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat, reports no cases of documented identity fraud at the polls.
The law will have an undeniably disparate impact on voters. Among Georgians, blacks are nearly five times less likely than whites to have a driver's license. The only photo ID card deemed acceptable would be issued by the state, at a cost of $20, at only 58 different locations across a state with 159 counties (Perdue says the fee will be waived for those who sign an affidavit claiming poverty). If the state's intentions were pure, there would be many more sites to obtain a photo ID card - and the card would be free.