Maryland e-voting paper audit bills on tap
TrueVoteMD.org, the Maryland group dedicated to providing voter-verified paper audit trails for e-voting in this state, sent a message to supporters like me today:

We are urging support of HB 107 that calls for a paper ballot record for audits and recounts. This bill has 33 co-sponsors and is the same as the bill we supported last year except that it includes a provision to protect the rights of the disabled. In the Senate we are urging support of SB 9 a bill with provisions similar to HB 107 and has 8 co-sponsors.

TrueVoteMD opposes the decoy bills HB 80 and SB 63. These bills legitimize paperless voting – without directly saying so. Both bills let the Board of Elections decide the issue – our elections board is adamantly against paper. The Senate bill also paves the way for electronic verification through an untested system called VoteHere. The message opposing these bills is: voters in Maryland want a transparent system that ensures that original voter intent is preserved. A voter verified paper ballot for audits and recounts is the only method to accomplish this.

Maryland residents should visit the TrueVoteMD.org site for additional information and the opportunity to send a letter to the Maryland House Ways and Means committee and the Senate Education, Health & Environmental Affairs committee. posted by Thomas Nephew at 11:24:00 PM -- |  

 
NLRB OK's union vote at Colorado Wal-Mart department
The Denver Post reports that a Loveland, Colorado Wal-Mart tire and lube section will get to vote on unionizing:

... in a 46-page decision released Friday, National Labor Relations Board regional director B. Allan Benson said the department was separate enough from the rest of the store that its workers could independently seek union representation. He also determined that a department manager also could be included in the unit.

9 of 17 employees in the department had petitioned to join United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 last November. Wal-Mart will appeal, but the Post says this probably won't delay the vote -- just its implementation:

Such an appeal would not necessarily postpone the vote, which is expected in late February, board assistant regional director Wayne Benson said.

That may still leave other avenues for Wal-Mart. In a notorious Texas case, the company retaliated against a meatpacking department union vote by discontinuing meat cutting and only selling prepackaged meat. posted by Thomas Nephew at 4:13:00 PM -- |  

 
Amen
Thomas Knapp concludes a tribute to the 35 Marines and one sailor who died in a helicopter crash and fighting around Iraq on Wednesday:

Support the war or not, remember that the Marines and soldiers who died today served a country they believed to be worthy of their devotion, and fell in a cause they believed to be just. Remember that if they had their doubts, they nonetheless chose to trust in that nation and in that cause, even unto death. Remember that those of us who constitute that nation owe it to those men and women to live up to their devotion and trust -- remember it whether or not you believe that we as a nation are doing so now. Remember that they are people who are loved, and who will be missed.

(Via Jim Henley) posted by Thomas Nephew at 3:21:00 PM -- |  

 
An emotional moment

"All good things must come to an end. ... It's like the child you raise through elementary school, high school and college and now it's gone."

That's Gary Smith of Chugwater WY, saying farewell to the last of the MX missiles. Mr. Smith can calm down; as I understand it, they're basically just being mothballed, so there's still a fighting chance they'll be used as God perhaps intends.

(For some reason, a lot of people were visiting my site last weekend via Google queries for "weapon that Reagan called the 'peacekeeper'," or I would have missed the story.) posted by Thomas Nephew at 2:40:00 PM -- |  

 
Blogroll updates
My blogrolls have been expanding, but with all the ones already there the new ones are easy to miss. Here's a rundown of most of the newest entries. Many of these probably need no introduction from me, so I'll keep it short:

• Alicublog - Roy Edroso's work usually comes in the form of short, sharp, funny posts, which often feature "The Ole Perfessor," as in "the Ole Perfessor indeeds." Reads the right when you don't want to.
  
• Armscontrolwonk.com - like the name implies, Jeffrey Lewis' blog provides knowledgeable, readable background on military and arms control policy. It's also quite nicely laid out, making for a Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist's quality read with a sense of humor thrown in.
  
• Avari/Nameh - winner of this year's Brass Crescent Award for best Muslim blog, it has been rewarding reading each time I've dropped in.
• Behind The Home Front - published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, this blog is a "daily chronicle of news in homeland security and military operations affecting newsgathering, access to information and the public's right to know."
• everythingsruined - by "John-Paul". Writes very nicely, thinks very clearly. E.g.:

  Americans will continue to vote for Republicans because they never actually believe that Republicans will do what they say they'll do. Americans tacitly trust that the Democrats will stop the Republicans from being too crazy. Because it's so hard to actually get anything done, Americans hardly bother to vote, and when they vote they do it like they're participating in a focus-group. They think of voting as an expression of opinion and lifestyle, not as an endorsement of actual policies with real consequences.

  Americans will continue to do this until they actually experience some of those consequences.

• James Wolcott - needs no introduction from me. Probably most of the rest of this list doesn't either, but he really doesn't. A recent entry begins, "Frowny day for cultural warriors." -- I like posts that start me off laughing helplessly.
  
• Jesus' General - extremely funny, this blog would be worth it for the "Republican Jesus" shtick alone.
  
• Legal Fiction - if I had to choose only one or two blogs to read on a desert island, this would be one of them. "publius" routinely writes middling-to-longish gems on legal and international affairs. Julie Saltman and Eric have been pinch-hitting lately.
  
• Paperwight's Fair Shot - Among other things, he's (she's?) got a great blogroll, although I'm admittedly biased on that score. A fightin' Democrat.
  
• Random Thoughts on Politics - follows Abu Ghraib etcetera very closely, and writes eloquently.
  
• Realclimate - This one is parked in the "specialty" blogroll, which displays five random blogs at a time. Experts explain climatology, and usually do it well.
• Stygius - follows world affairs and Colorado politics closely, and produces meticulously researched and linked posts on a disturbingly frequent basis. Seems to know more than the average bear about Eastern Europe and Russia.
  
• The Sideshow - Avedon Carol manages to catch all the most important under-the-radar news and all the good blog posts first. Like everythingsruined, she rode the 2004 post-election protection issue hard (Ohio, etc.); it's probably to my discredit that I didn't.

The downside, of course, is that checking out these blogs more frequently has been coming at the expense not just of monitoring Glenn Reynolds et al -- a price I'm willing to pay -- but also old favorite blogs like Mark Kleiman's, Matthew Yglesias', Jim Henley's or The Poor Man's. But life goes on.


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EDIT, 1/29: "post-" added to "Sideshow" comments for clarity. I wrote a fair amount about one aspect of election protection -- electronic voting minus paper receipts -- but haven't returned to the issue since the election.
EDIT, 1/30: John-Paul, not jeanpaul. That's embarrassing. posted by Thomas Nephew at 11:28:00 PM -- |  

 
Moderation, in the eye of the beholder
Last week I noticed a January 21 Cape Times (South Africa) news item via an international news feed of mine, Saudi cleric warns against al-Qaeda call to jihad:

A leading Saudi cleric warned Muslims yesterday against heeding militant calls to wage terror attacks in the name of Islam.

Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sudeis, the state-appointed preacher at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, told pilgrims in a sermon to mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, that scholars must preach moderation to confront this 'putrid' phenomenon.

Militants were using 'misguided and void' interpretations to justify violence, Sudeis said.

'Because Muslims have strayed from moderation, we are now suffering from this dangerous phenomenon of branding people infidels and inciting Muslims to rise against their leaders to cause instability,' Sudeis said.

'The reason for this is a delinquent and void interpretation of Islam based on ignorance ... faith does not mean killing Muslims or non-Muslims who live among us, it does not mean shedding blood, terrorising or sending body parts flying.' (emphases added)

All in all, this seems to be mainly an emphasis on avoiding fitna, a Koranic concept that has been described as "awesome trial(s) of deceptive attractions" brought on by false prophets -- a pretty good description of Al Qaedism. On the other hand, and to my outsider's eye, the emphasis on avoiding fitna by Saudi Wahabbite clerics in particular seems a stronger version of the familiar "render unto Caesar" principle in that duly certified clerics like Mr. al-Sudeis can also sort of say "...and I'm with Caesar." A simple exercise in Venn diagramming will temper the joy of many non-Muslims' initial reactions, but given the situation in Iraq, it's a welcome rebuttal to Bin Laden, Zarqawi et al's unremitting bloodthirsty actions and statements.

Moreover, as Aziz Poonawalla points out, the message is aimed at a huge pilgrimage audience that is probably unaware of prior messages by the same speaker saying which non-Muslims not-living-among-[Muslims] do deserve jihad by the sword. Moderation truly is in the eye of the beholder, and I welcome a statement like this one, even if it doesn't go far enough yet. posted by Thomas Nephew at 8:45:00 PM -- |  

 
60 years ago today: Auschwitz liberated

January 26, 1945:

On this day, Soviet troops enter Auschwitz, Poland, freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps-and finally revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there.

Auschwitz was really a group of camps, designated I, II, and III. There were also 40 smaller 'satellite' camps. It was at Auschwitz II, at Birkenau, established in October 1941, that the SS created a complex, monstrously orchestrated killing ground: 300 prison barracks; four 'bathhouses' in which prisoners were gassed; corpse cellars; and cremating ovens. Thousands of prisoners were also used for medical experiments overseen and performed by the camp doctor, Josef Mengele, the 'Angel of Death.'

The Red Army had been advancing deeper into Poland since mid-January. Having liberated Warsaw and Krakow, Soviet troops headed for Auschwitz. In anticipation of the Soviet arrival, the German Gestapo began a murder spree in the camps, shooting sick prisoners and blowing up crematoria in a desperate attempt to destroy the evidence of their crimes. When the Red Army finally broke through, Soviet soldiers encountered 648 corpses and more than 7,000 starving camp survivors. There were also six storehouses filled with literally hundreds of thousands of women's dresses, men's suits, and shoes that the Germans did not have time to burn.
(summary by the History Channel)

English language links
Auschwitz Memorial (Poland)
The Auschwitz Album (Yad Vashem)
Auschwitz/Birkenau (photos by Alan Jacobs)
Liberation of Auschwitz: 60th anniversary (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State (PBS)


German language links
Konzentrationslager Auschwitz (Shoa.de)
FASENA ("Education after Auschwitz")
Ort des Unfassbaren (SPIEGEL: "Place of the inconceivable")
Regieren nach Auschwitz, Nie wieder, immer wieder (Die ZEIT: "Governing after Auschwitz," "Never again, over and over")
Müssen wir uns heute noch schuldig fühlen? (STERN poses the question "Must we still feel guilty?" to historians, politicians, and others; "Most speak of the continuing responsibility of Germans, only a few speak of guilt.")
Speech by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (1/25/2005):

Because we know one thing: There is no freedom, no human dignity, and no justice if we were to forget what happened when freedom, justice and human dignity were trampled with the power of the state.

The last word
Michael Berenbaum, US Holocaust Museum co-founder:

There are good reasons to be tired of the Holocaust. And one of the reasons is because it's so bleak. It is an atrocity and with an atrocity you don't have the balance that comes out of tragedy.

In tragedy, what you learn equals or somehow balances the price that you pay. In atrocity, you have an imbalance and consequently it is a heavy burden for civilization. It shatters your sense of belief in God, belief in the goodness of governments and the altruism of human beings. There is also a fear that this constitutes such an overwhelming negativity that we can't get the inner resources to create a positive future.

My sense is that the only way to go forward into the future with integrity is to confront, to grapple with this past.

posted by Thomas Nephew at 11:10:00 PM -- |  

 
The swiftest advance of freedom ever seen - II
But wait! That's not all! What about the Iraqi government we're defending? "Meet the new boss; not quite as bad as the old boss, but wait a while." Human Rights Watch has just issued a report on prisoner abuse by Iraqis titled "The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody." The Washington Post's Doug Struck summarizes the findings:

Twenty months after Saddam Hussein's government was toppled and its torture chambers unlocked, Iraqis are again being routinely beaten, hung by their wrists and shocked with electrical wires, according to a report by a human rights organization.

The Human Rights Watch report describes abuses in the Iraqi system:

The majority of the detainees interviewed for this report stated that torture and ill-treatment during the initial period of detention was commonplace in facilities under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior’s specialized police agencies. Methods of torture or ill-treatment cited included routine beatings to the body using a variety of implements such as cables, hosepipes and metal rods. Detainees reported kicking, slapping and punching; prolonged suspension from the wrists with the hands tied behind the back; electric shocks to sensitive parts of the body, including the earlobes and genitals; and being kept blindfolded and/or handcuffed continuously for several days.

Incredibly, some of the abusers are old hands at the game. From the Washington Post article:

Hania Mufti, the Baghdad director of Human Rights Watch and chief author of the report, said she did not find examples of abuses that were on a par with the worst atrocities committed under Hussein's rule, such as mock executions, disfigurement with acid or sexual assaults on family members in front of prisoners. But in many other respects, she said, treatment of those swept up by police had changed little.

"Many of the same people who worked in Saddam's time are still doing those jobs today. So there is a continuity of personnel and of mind-set," [HRW Baghdad chief ] said in an interview. "I think the Iraqi people themselves thought there was going to be a different system. Every day, they are finding it is not so different."

The Iraqis have no reason to believe Americans would do things any differently -- let alone intervene; the single instance HRW found of that was countermanded by higher ups in the chain of command:

According to an account related in the report by Capt. Jarrell Southal of the National Guard, his soldiers entered [an Iraqi Interior Ministry] compound and found bound prisoners "writhing in pain" and complaining of lack of water. They gave water to the men, moved them out of the sun and then disarmed the Iraqi police. But when the Oregon soldiers radioed up their chain of command for instructions, they were ordered to "return the prisoners to the Iraqi authorities and leave the detention yard."

(This story made the rounds last year when it happened.) Sweet land of liberty. I read that our President said this in his second inaugural speech:

All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors.

And he asked these questions:

Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?

It's not looking good. And no. And somewhere John Yoo is saying, "Well, if we're the ones oppressing them, then we can hardly be ignoring that, right?" posted by Thomas Nephew at 1:02:00 AM -- |  

 
The swiftest advance of freedom ever seen - I
The ACLU has released yet another set of documents* obtained via a Freedom of Information Act law suit. This set shows how the Army generally found no grounds for pursuing case after compelling case of abuse by American military personnel. The Washington Post reports that of 54 cases in 2003 and 2004 documented in the released files, "most led to administrative fines or simply withered because investigators could not find victims or evidence." Here's the ACLU summary of a representative Army report, dated 7/28/04 (well after Abu Ghraib broke):

Investigation into allegation by detainee that he was tortured at a U.S. facility in Mosul. Detainee indicated that after being arrested but before arriving at the facility, his captors -- American men in civilian clothes -- bent his thumb backwards, kicked him, and hit him with the butt of a weapon in the back of the neck. At the facility, which was very cold, he was stripped; allowed only two limited periods of sleep in seven days, and prevented from sleeping by being subjected to loud recordings and being doused with cold water; given only eight biscuits to eat in seven days; assaulted by a translator; and pressed on his joints by U.S. personnel in a manner causing severe pain and temporary paralysis. After his head was hit against a wall, causing him to bleed from his nose and mouth, and causing permanent loss of balance, he was taken to a hospital. However, he was later retreived by the same team of captors and "I had the same ways of previous torturing, as well as pouring hot liquid on my back, and sitting me close to fire, which resulted in burning a part of my right leg, and they put a very hot lamp on my thigh for a very short time. At the end they threatened me that they would bring my wife and my mother and that they would rape them if I did not confess. When I asked them to bring a paper and write whatever they want, I would sign it without any objection." Detainee displayed healed burn scars on knees and "unusual scars" on feet, and an interviewer noticed that he "walked with a wobble". Investigation revealed that the detainee had been arrested and initially detained by Navy SEALs from Naval Special Warfare Squadron 7. Notations in the investigative file indicate that a medical screening record generated on the day of capture showed several abrasions and bruising consistent with a "rough capture" and that a medical record generated thirteen days later showed second degree burns and singed tissue "after being interrogated the evening prior." Moreover, the Army NCO who initially processed the detainee on his arrival at the Mosul facility noted that the detainee "was scared, crying, and upset," and that when he made a hand gesture that the detainee interpreted as indicating that he would be sent back to the SEAL team, the detainee said "I am not going back with them, you might as well kill me now." The NCO said that he suspected that the SEALs may have abused the detainee. The SEALs denied abusing the detainee, stating that he threw himself on rocks and rubbed himself against walls, and faked illness. A 15-6 investigation concluded that there was no wrongdoing by any of the persons involved in the apprehension and subsequent detention and (inconsistent with other reports in the file) indicated that the alleged burns were not consistent with thermal burns. CID similarly concluded that the "[i]nvestigation did not develop sufficient evidence to prove or disprove the allegations made by Mr. [REDACTED]."

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* Prior releases were described on this site on 1/9/05 and 12/24/04. posted by Thomas Nephew at 1:00:00 AM -- |  

 
Brett Marston
... has come out of blog retirement! He's put up a flurry of posts, including one on negative votes in India, one about a cool new service based on Technorati called Govtrack.us, and one about a very interesting piece by Armscontrolwonk.com (Jeffrey Lewis) on the undistinguished history of U.S. covert operations, and more. Go have a look. Guess I should have a beer or three with him more often.
posted by Thomas Nephew at 9:58:00 PM -- |