The speed that hackers were able to breach security on dozens of electronic voting machines at one of the United States’ largest cybersecurity conferences underscores the long-standing problem with computerized electronic voting systems in our country. At the annual DefCon cybersecurity conference this July, hacker managed to break into every voting machine within minutes, according to an article in The Hill.[1]

In Florida, Ohio and elsewhere, the electronic voting machines recorded statistically unlikely undervotes. In a hotly contested Congressional election in Sarasota, Florida, the machines recorded that 13%, or 18,000 of the votes, failed to cast a vote in a race decided by 368 votes.[14] In Montgomery County, Ohio, some 30,000 votes failed to record in the U.S. Senate race because of improper touchscreen machine “calibration.”[15] A recount and court hearing proved that it was impossible to audit the electronic machines that “glitched.”

Early in 2007, there was a push to replace paperless voting machines. Florida's Governor Charlie Crist and the State legislature agreed to ban direct­ recording electronic (DRE) voting systems. After extensive testing in California, Secretary of State (SoS) Debra Bowen, announced that DRE voting systems made by Sequoia and Diebold would be banned from use. Bowen’s testing prompted her Colorado counterpart, Mike Coffman, to decertify many of his state’s e­-voting systems.[19] Rather than install computerized vote counting machines with known system failures and security inadequacies in the run-up to the 2008 election, New York State refused to replace its lever­ based voting machinery by going electronic. Bo Lipari, executive director of New Yorkers for Verified Voting, asserts, "State after state which adopted electronic touch screen DREs are now abandoning them for paper ballots and ballot scanners. DREs cannot and do not protect our right to vote."

Pete Johnson sued Edison Media Research Inc., the monopoly organization that conducted exit polling in the 2016 primary and general election. Bob Fitrakis, Free Press Editor served as his attorney. On May 11, 2017 the United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio dismissed Johnson's suit. Johnson argued “...that exit polls are protected speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and that Edison violated his rights by refusing to provide him with unadjusted exit poll data.” At the center of Johnson's claim is the assertion that exit polls are protected speech because “the information gathered and disseminated in 'exit polls' goes the heart of the democratic process.”[156]

You’ve been hearing a lot about toxic algae wreaking havoc in Florida’s waters. People are having trouble breathing, marine life is dying and the economy is suffering.

And what’s causing it is a combination of naturally occurring conditions and human activity. Red tide occurs naturally. There’s evidence that it was around 500 years ago. But in the last 50 years it has gotten worse and we humans have a lot to do with it.

Runoff from farms north of the lake, lawn fertilizer and people’s septic tanks polluted the Lake. And now, that water feeds the toxic algae, creating an ecological disaster for Floridians.

“Wetlands are very good at taking up those nutrients, so you have nice clean water released out of the wetlands. The problem is now the northern third of the Everglades has been drained and turned into these sugar cane fields,” Dr. Brand said. “That’s what forces engineers to release the water to the east and the west.”

A superyacht saga involving the U.S. Department of Justice, a former Malaysian prime minister and a billionaire yacht owner accused of bilking $4.5 billion

It is pulp fiction for the yachting industry. The year-long saga involving a former Malaysian prime minister, the U.S. Department of Justice and a Chinese billionaire took another turn last week as the $250 million superyacht Equanimity was handed over to Malaysian authorities who vowed they would sell the yacht.

In June 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s office filed a 251-page lawsuit against Low, arguing there was a conspiracy between a high-ranking Malayasian official, who turned out to be former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Low. Both used the public fund for their personal use. Razak deposited $700 million from the fund into his personal account, while Low, listed as the fund’s financial director, steered billions into his own accounts. Since June, U.S. government agents have scoured the world for assets allegedly bought with stolen IMDB money.

Thomas said the yacht, now considered property of the IMDB fund, would be sold in the next four months. “The money that we get will be transferred into a fixed bank account which will be granted to any party who can successfully establish the ownership of the yacht in a civil suit,” Thomas told ChannelNewsAsia.com. He invited Low to claim ownership, though Low understands returning to Malaysia would most likely result in prison rather than sunset cruises on Equanimity.

The saga of Equanimity will no doubt continue.

One of the largest fertilizer manufacturing plants in the world sits about six miles southwest of the Polk County hamlet of Mulberry, with its entrance in walking distance of the Hillsborough County line. About 800 employees work there, turning phosphate rock into nearly 4 million tons of fertilizer and animal food ingredients every year.

They also produce a lot of waste. That’s not unusual for the phosphate industry.

Mosaic’s phosphate mines and fertilizer factories must store their waste this way because there is no other way to get rid of it safely. The phosphogypsum is mildly radioactive, enough so that it exceeds a level that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has deemed safe for humans. The industry has proposed using its waste for everything from wallboard to road-building material. But the EPA, since 1992, has repeatedly said no. So the only solution is to stack it.

Florida’s leading industry is tourism. Nearly 100 million tourists visit the state every year. They show up because Florida’s air and beaches are clean and free of pollution. One catastrophic gyp stack leak like the one that happened in 1997 can lay waste to an entire estuary, creating fishkills and other impacts that can drive the tourists away for years. To Mader, the two industries—tourism and phosphate—are like trains running straight toward each other on the same track.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CNS) -- More than two million pounds of dead and rotting fish have already been removed from Florida beaches.
While Nelson and Scott continue to point the finger at one another, environmentalists say Scott’s cuts to water management districts outweigh any actions by Nelson.

Scott touted the cuts as a success in 2011.

“I took action on the proposed budgets of Florida's five water management districts. All together these budgets reflect a reduction of more than $700 million dollars over last year,” Scott said in his weekly video update from August of that year.

“$700 million,” said Moncrief. "Those are the agencies that are responsible for making sure that pollution is under control.”

The Republican who’s challenging state Rep. Jamie Grant for his House District 64 seat lives in a $500,000 home but applied for food stamps, according to recent tweets.

We previously reported that Power owes nearly $88,000 in alimony.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - An argument on Facebook over politics led to the shooting of a man in Tampa on Monday.
According to police, Alex Stephens, 46, and Brian Sebring, 44, became involved in an argument over politics on the social media platform.
After receiving several explicit messages and threats, Sebring went to Stephens’ home to confront him.
Sebring, anticipating the confrontation would escalate, brought his Glock semi-automatic pistol.
When he arrived to Stephens’ home, Sebring honked his horn and waited by his truck for the victim to leave his home.
Stephens left the home and immediately sprinted towards Sebring, who drew his pistol and fired two shots at Stephens, striking him in the right thigh and buttocks.