James Kim is a hero to me and to countless others who have learned his heartbreaking story. Mr. Kim is the California man who died while trying to find help for his family in the snowy wilderness of Oregon. Wearing only a light winter coat and extra pairs of pants, it is now believed that Mr. Kim walked some 16 miles before succumbing to hunger, exhaustion and the elements. When I first heard this story, Mr. Kim was most likely still alive. They had just located the other members of the Kim family, and when I heard that Mr. Kim had gone out searching for help, I got down on my knees and prayed. As a husband to a fantastic wife and father to 4 wonderful children, I know what was driving Mr. Kim. As we all know now, my prayers and those of so many others were not to be answered for this husband and father of two. It will most likely seem strange to many of you to read this, knowing that I had never met James Kim, but I miss him. I miss him because of the words of his friends and family that testify to his devotion and passion for his family. I miss him because it is always a loss to the world when someone like James Kim leaves us. In case he is able is somehow able to know my thoughts, I want to say, "Thank you." Thank you for loving your family so much that you were willing to pay the ultimate price. Thank you for being the kind of friend that everyone would like to have. Thank you for living a life full of passion and being a person of principle. By doing these things, James Kim, you inspire me to be the same kind of person. You can view CNet's tribute to James Kim here.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Saturday, December 02, 2006
One More "No Confidence" Vote On Voting Machines
I strongly urge you to watch the video "Hacking Democracy" after reading the article below. Hopefully it will disturb you and anger you to the point that you contact your Congressperson and Senators to demand complete accountability in our voting system. Also demand that our tax dollars spent on these defective machines be returned immediately.
Updated: 12:47 AM EST
Federal Agency Doubts Electronic Voting Machines
Draft Report Says Machines 'Cannot Be Made Secure'
WASHINGTON (Dec. 2) - Paperless electronic voting machines in widespread use across the country may be vulnerable to errors or sabotage and cannot be made secure, a draft report by a federal agency said.
Robert Sullivan, AFP/Getty Images
A man casts an early ballot on an electronic machine in Miami, FL., two weeks before election day.
Talk About It: Post Thoughts
The report by researchers at the influential National Institute of Standards and Technology said the paperless voting machines - essentially notebook computers programmed to display ballot images and record voter choices - "in practical terms cannot be made secure."
"Many people, especially in the computer engineering and security community, assert that the (voting machines) are vulnerable to undetectable errors as well as malicious software attacks," the report said.
A key weakness is that there is no audit mechanism or paper trail to verify election results other than what the machine itself reports, the report said.
"Potentially, a single programmer could 'rig' a major election," the report said.
After examining the issue, including volunteering as election workers at polling sites, NIST researchers said in their report that they concluded that they not know how to write "testable requirements" to make the machines secure and it is their recommendation that the machines "in practical terms cannot be made secure."
Many states bought the paperless electronic voting machines with money provided by Congress after the 2000 presidential election, whose disputed results went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Gail Porter, NIST's public affairs director, emphasized that the draft report is a "discussion document" whose conclusions and recommendations could change.
The report will be discussed at a meeting Monday by NIST's Technical Guidelines Development Committee at the agency's headquarters in Gaithersburg, MD. The committee is tasked under a law enacted by Congress in 2002 to advise the Election Assistance Commission on developing guidelines for voting systems.
Election experts applauded the report's findings.
"The new NIST report is confirmation that the mandatory verified voter trails the DNC and its Voting Rights Institute have championed are vital to restoring the confidence of the American people in their own democracy," Donna Brazile, chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute, said in a statement Friday.
12-02-06 00:31 EST
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Dennis Prager - Conservative Moron
Are there any conservatives in this country who still understand the purpose and meaning that our founding fathers had in creating the Constitution of the United States? I wish I could find one. Prager recently attacked newly elected Representative Keith Ellison for saying that he wants to take his oath with his hand on the Koran.
Prager wrote:
"He should not be allowed to do so, not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American culture."
Concerning the Bible, he wrote, "America holds as its holiest book. … If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress."
Obviously, Prager does not understand the whole idea behind the separation of church and state. Freedom of religion is not interpreted as "freedom for Christians only."
Show me where in the Constitution it states that a member of Congress must be sworn in over a Bible. Where? It's not there. And where does he get off stating for all Americans what we hold as our "holiest book?" It is sickening to me, as a Christian, and as an American, that so many neo-cons are trying to create their own version of Christianity - a version that very often contradicts the very words of Yaohushua (Jesus). Ideas such as "turn the other cheek" and "love your enemies" seem to be lost to them.
Thankfully, Christians who believe differently than the neo-cons are speaking out. We are forming groups that have political clout and are no longer allowing the ultra-conservatives to walk all over us. For more information, check out the following links:
Why I Hate Mortgage Companies
A few years ago we refinanced our mortgage with Quicken Loans. Initially, we were very happy with the service. The representatives that handled the processing of our loan were very courteous and professional and we were happy with the rate that we were getting. Things quickly changed after our loan was processed. It was sold off to 2 separate companies within 2 months. From the very beginning, we had problems with the holder of our smallest loan. That company is EMC out of Texas. I am beginning to think that Texas is the Scumbag Business Capital of the United States. EMC was VERY SLOW in sending us notice that they held one of our loans and letting us know what our payment schedule was to be. Yet, they attempted to charge us "late fees" for not paying them on time. How exactly were we to pay them on time when they did not let us know the amount or due date of our payments? Unfortunately, relations have not improved from that poor start.
The company holding the larger loan is Countrywide Home Loans. Although we have had a much more positive experience with Countrywide, we have had our share of troubles with them as well. Today I received a notice from them stating that they were going to be opening up access to my account information unless I called a toll-free number to request that they limit access. There was no special notice on the envelope letting us know the importance of the mailing, and since we have our mortgage payments automatically sent from our account each month, I usually tuck our mailings from them into a drawer. Luckily, I opened this one. However, after opening it, reading it, and calling the toll-free number, I was greeted with one of the most mundane, drawn-out, annoying messages I have ever encountered. I think the idea is to have you hang-up before you choose to opt-out. Their loss - I stayed on the line until I got to the option to opt-out. We really need to stand up as consumers and tell companies like those in the mortgage business that we are not going to be bullied anymore. I will be writing to my state's Attorney General and Banking Commission in addition to those of the states in which Countrywide and EMC are headquarted. Something makes me think that I may not even receive a response from Texas.
