Oh, lovely, a bipartisan election hack alert law bill for Mitch McConnell to feed into the shredder Two US lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan bill that would force the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to alert the public of hacking attempts on election computer systems. House reps Mike Waltz (R-FL) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) agreed to reach across the aisle to sponsor HR 3259, the Achieving Lasting Electoral Reforms on …
So true, those ponderous acronyms drive one mad.
Same with their [ astoundingly self-aggrandizing ] Military Operations. The WWII Germans had colour-names or animals ( Arctic Fox ! Sealion, Falcon ) or Christian names ( Toni, Lucie, Ursula ), whilst the Americans recently have 'Enduring Freedom', 'Just Cause', 'Noble Eagle', Infinite Justice', 'Inherent Resolve'.
Of course, apart from being inherently cooler, the Germans actually wanted to maintain secrecy to some extent.
Of course, apart from being inherently cooler, the Germans actually wanted to maintain secrecy to some extent....
As did the Allies during WW2 (Operations Dynamo, Torch and Market-Garden, although Overlord was pushing it a bit). The UK has kept that (Operations Corporate, Granby, Herrick) but the US has gone overboard on "press-friendly" names. If they were truly random, Operation "Courageous Hamster" would be much better than "Desert Storm" or "Iraqi Freedom"
Icon - Operation Tabarin, obviously
For me, he's always been Yertle the Turtle. The story has a distinctly political feel to it, so it works on that level, too.
But, as Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand And started to order and give the command, That plain little turtle below in the stack, That plain little turtle whose name was just Mack, Decided he'd taken enough. ... For Yertle, the King of all Sala-ma-Sond, Fell off his high throne and fell Plunk! in the pond!
- T. Geisel
"The one thing that is indisputable in the Mueller report is the fact that Russia interfered in our election. In Florida, it is unacceptable that the Russians know which systems were hacked but not the American voters who are the true victims of this intrusion,” Rep Murphy said on Wednesday.
The last sentence is logically incoherent, since it's like saying it is unacceptable bankrobbers know which safes they broke, but the public doesn't. Anyway, Democrats won't accept the report of the ludicrous Mueller made no charges against Trump, but simultaneously will accept the unsubstantiated [ by Mueller ] vague charges against the Russians.
The 'Russians; are alleged to have had a budget of $1.25 million a month; as the Clinton Campaign spent $1.2 billion.
... discarded in the Senate by the chamber's majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), with the reasoning that today's election computer security defenses – despite objections from experts – are sufficient to protect future elections from foreign hackers.
Just as maintained by President Obama.
.
Mitch McConnell has views, like most American conservatives, I find as abhorrent as those held by the devils in Hell; but it will one day be appreciated he was one of America's greatest politicians; second only to LBJ in the last 100 years.
"only to have the measures discarded in the Senate by the chamber's majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), with the reasoning that today's election computer security defences ... are sufficient to protect future elections from foreign hackers"
When it comes to hacking, there are two types of organisations in the world - those who have been hacked, and those who don't know it yet.
"Our elections system is perhaps the most critical of all infrastructure to our democracy – and it is constantly under attack from foreign powers who do not share our values."
It's also under attack from domestic powers who do not share your values. Gerrymandering and voter suppression play much more of a role in rigging elections than the Russians likely ever have, while the creation of Super PACS makes it much easier for a faceless funder to influence voters.
Has existed for at least a Century in the U.S. I know that doesn't sound all that long to a Brit, but then 100 Miles doesn't sound that long to a Yank.
Anyway, it is inherent in politics that those in power will do whatever it takes to stay in power. All else follows simply and logically.
Elections are a show, not an actual event. People are allowed to think they have a choice. But the candidates are selected by the corporations that bankroll them, not voters. I'm old, and know all to well, it's all BS. At worst we are slaves, at best we are pets. Either way we don't matter beyond making us obey.
Far, FAR more effective to just ban voting machines entirely. They really only do exist in order to make election stealing easier. I can accept (as a compromise) a system where the voter reviews the physical record for them which is collated electronically as a way to speed results.
I think that people misread Russia's goals. While in any particular election, they are likely to have a preferred candidate, they are far more interested in eroding confidence in the election process. Over the long run, that will damage the US's ability to interfere with their designs to a far greater degree.
Pollution of the voter roles is a thing, though, and a really nasty hack would be to delete a significant number of voters from the roles a week before the election, especially if it was done in a way that could through an election.
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