Computer-science researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Rice University are heaping criticism on electronic voting machines built by Diebold Election Systems, based on software code for the machine said to have been posted publicly to the Internet by an activist.
I’m feeling just peachy about the next national election…really, I am….
Good news from Florida:
Florida agreed to help restore voting rights to nearly 125,000 convicted felons who didn’t get enough advice on how to regain their rights when they walked free, officials said Thursday.
….
Florida is one of eight states that deny ex-felons the right to vote unless they take steps to have their civil rights restored by the state.
The Department of Corrections had acknowledged that offenders released between 1992 and 2001 did not get proper help on having their rights restored.
The system drew international attention during the bitter dispute over the 2000 presidential election, when some Florida voters claimed they weren’t allowed to cast ballots because they were mistaken for convicted felons.
Since Florida appears to have a long history of abusing the civil rights of ex felons this will have to be closely monitored to assure that Florida officials do not find another way to continue their historic practices.
Of course, none of this has an impact on the 2000 election…..
Via Daily Legal News Wire.
There is growing grass roots support* for impeachment and some of the Democratic contenders are hinting at it:
On the stump in New Hampshire last week, Democratic presidential contender and former Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Bob Graham said that if George W. Bush made false statements that led the nation into war, there were grounds to impeach him.
James Ridgeway, in this Village Voice piece argues that it is unlikely that Bush will be impeached.
An Oakland view of what is impeachable.
Original photo courtesy of David Gans.
I have not seen any statistics on the impact of the many cries to boycot French products we heard during the buildup to the Iraq war and I wonder just how happy the bushies corporate funders will be if current foreign policy has a large negative impact on worldwide sales.
Echoing harvard Professor Business School Professor John Quelch’s April warning:
Selling the American dream has paid off handsomely. Eight of the ten most valuable brands in the world, according to the Interbrand consultancy, are American, and each derives more than half its sales from outside the United States. But now a deepening opposition to American foreign policy is threatening the long-term strength of these brands.
Newsweek reports:
Does the rising tide of anti-Americanism hurt American multinationals? The vocal antiwar protesters would like to think so, but there hasn�t been much evidence for a broader consumer turnoff, until now.
Reporting on the same study the Independent headlines:
Americans are used to resentment of their global dominance. Since the war on Iraq, however, this hostility has begun to hit them where it hurts: in corporate balance sheets.
Countering the gloomy reports Nike and Mcdonalds say that their European revenues are respectiviely either up or flat. It will be interesting to watch these figures over the next 6-12 months.
Via Alternet.