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Bill USA

Bill USA's Journal
Bill USA's Journal
October 26, 2016

Voter ID Laws Lost in Court. Why Can’t These Voters Vote? - The Fight for Full Democracy in 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/us/elections/voter-id-laws.html?rref=us&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&pgtype=Multimedia
MADISON, Wis. — It seemed a clear victory for voting rights advocates in July when a federal court invalidated much of Wisconsin’s restrictive elections law, concluding that it discriminated against minorities by requiring voters to produce photo ID cards that blacks and Latinos too often lack. The remedy was straightforward: Henceforth, the state was to “promptly issue a credential valid as a voting ID to any person” who applied for one.

But this month when Treasure Collins visited one of the Wisconsin motor vehicle offices that issue IDs, she found something entirely different.

“I brought everything my mom told me I would need: my school ID, a copy of my birth certificate, my Social Security number,” said Ms. Collins, 18. “But they told me I needed an original copy of my birth certificate. An original copy, all the way from Illinois.”

While Donald J. Trump repeatedly claims that the election is “rigged” against him, voting rights groups are increasingly battling something more concrete in this year’s ferocious wars over access to the ballot box: [font size="+1"]Despite a string of court victories against restrictive voting laws passed by Republican legislatures, even when voting rights groups win in court, they are at risk of losing on the ground.

[font color="red"]In an election year when turnout could be crucial, a host of factors — foot-dragging by states, confusion among voters, the inability of judges to completely roll back bias — are blunting the effect of court rulings against the laws.[/font][/font]
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October 25, 2016

Black voters in North Carolina shrug off Trump's voting day threats ("monitor your polling places")

http://www.newsweek.com/north-carolina-voters-513156
(emphases my own)


North Carolina’s African-American community has fought to overcome numerous barriers to voting over the past century—from poll taxes and literacy tests to a 2013 voter ID law that, according to a federal appeals court ruling this summer, was designed to “target African-Americans with almost surgical precision.” So as the state’s early-voting period gets underway in the 2016 election, black voters are not about to let concerns about conflict at polling places—fanned by Donald Trump’s sinister predictions of voter fraud—keep them from casting their ballot.

“We don’t take what Donald Trump has to say as a deterrent for us to come and vote,” North Carolina Central University student Brian Burton told Newsweek on October 20, following a rally featuring Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine at the historically black university in Durham. Burton said he thinks the Republican presidential nominee’s talk of rampant voter fraud (which is unfounded) and exhortations to his supporters to go out and watch “other communities” vote are “only driving more Democrats to the polls, versus actually driving them away.” He said he was planning to vote the next day.

Others on campus were equally nonplussed. “I’m not really worried about anything,” said freshman Saniya Farrow, who planned to go home to another part of the state, where she is registered, to vote over the weekend. She said warnings of vote rigging are “nothing new,” though she added she wasn’t familiar with the concerns specific to this election.

In downtown Durham, voters didn’t appear fazed by the presidential race’s harsh rhetoric or the rain in the next day’s forecast. A line snaked out the door of the Durham County Board of Elections office, one of five early-voting sites now open in the county. Another eight will begin operating on October 27 through Election Day. Volunteer poll monitors said the crowds had been pretty consistent since voting began October 20.

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October 24, 2016

Clinton's email "scandal" that isn't. Brief notes for 'discussions' with Repugnants

... the Clinton email/server issue is fairly complex and is ripe for distortions by the Rabid Right. Terms used in the arguments are treated as if they are clearly defined when, in reality, matters are not always that simple. The following notes are provided to hopefully help in 'discussions' of this 'issue' with Repugnants.


Classified information - not a cut and dried matter - Dept of State did not agree emails contained Classified Info

Comey said, in answer to Trey Gowedy's question, they found emails on Sec. Clinton's server with classified information in them. What he did not say is that while the CIA said that some of the information in some emails was classified, the Dept of State does NOT agree that the information was classified. Comey gave the impression that the determination of classified status of information is a cut and dried matter and he did not reveal what everyone who works for the Government knows - that there is NOT universal agreement among the agencies of Government (esp. Dept. of State and the CIA) as to what information should be considered classified.

Agencies Battle Over What Is ‘Top Secret’ in Hillary Clinton’s Emails


NONE of the emails in question were initiated by Clinton. They were all sent to or forwarded to Sec Clinton.

None of the emails had a Classified Header on it, AS IS REQUIRED, if classified information is within the document.

In Comey's appearance before a Congressional Committee, Rep Matt Cartwright asked Comey was it true that NOT ONE of the emails purported to have classified info in them had a Classified Header on it - as is required. Comey answered that was TRUE. Cartwright asked Comey was it reasonable for the secretary of state to infer from the lack of a classified header that there was no classified info in these emails. Comey answered that that was a reasonable inference to make. [font color="red"]Note that Comey, with these answers confirmed what Hillary said: she did not send or receive anything marked classified. IOW Clinton did NOT LIE. It's interesting to note that not one of the GOP-tv networks (ABC,NBC, CBS, PBS) has shown or reported on this clear confirmation of the truth in what Clinton said[/font]. Six corporations control 90% of the media. Need I say more?

Personal email accounts not prohibited during Sec Clinton's tenure; Powell advised Clinton to use personal email account as he did

Secretary Clinton's use of a personal email account - whether with a commercial email service provider, or on a personally owned server - was not, as claimed, an extraordinary thing to do. During the time of Sec. Clinton's tenure at the Dept. of State there were no prohibitions on the use of personal email accounts for Government business. Federal Records Act requirements are met if all relevant documents (involving the conduct of official Government business) are provided for archiving, regardless of whether they are emails or some other form of communication.

Dept. of State, OIG Report: Evaluation of Email Records Management and Cybersecurity Requirements - May 2016 https://oig.state.gov/system/files/esp-16-03.pdf (all emphases my own)

Email Records Equivalent to Other Records: In 1995, NARA amended the Code of Federal Regulations to confirm that “messages created or received on electronic mail systems may meet the definition of record.”21 The regulations also referenced the use of electronic communications systems external to the Government, indicating that “agencies with access to external electronic mail systems shall ensure that Federal records sent or received on these systems are preserved in the appropriate recordkeeping system.”22 __Page 6)

~~
~~

Requirements for Email Records in Personal Accounts: As previously stated, documents can qualify as Federal records regardless of the location, method of creation, or the medium involved. Consequently, records management requirements have always applied to emails exchanged on personal email accounts, provided their content meets the definition of a record. In 2004, NARA issued a bulletin noting that officials and employees “must know how to ensure that records are incorporated into files or electronic recordkeeping systems, especially records that were generated electronically on personal computers.” In 2009, NARA amended its regulations explicitly to address official emails on personal accounts:

Agencies that allow employees to send and receive official electronic mail messages using a system not operated by the agency must ensure that Federal records sent or received on such systems are preserved in the appropriate agency recordkeeping system.

___Page 8


[font size="3"] Former Sec of State Colin Powell used a personal email account for personal and official Government business. Powell advised Sec Clinton to use a personal email account as he did.[/font] Actually, use of personal email accounts for official government business is not unusual. Discussion of Classified info, out of necessity, is also not unusual in the diplomatic service (although, diplomats take steps to be vague in communications).

(State Dept. Daily Briefing, Mar 15, 2015). http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2015/03/238132.htm;
The Hillary Clinton email Scandal that isn't https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-hillary-clinton-e-mail-scandal-that-isnt/2015/08/27/b1cabed8-4cf4-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html?utm_term=.2a6d672fb9a4)
Use of Unclassified Email Systems Not Limited to Clinton http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/us/clinton-emails-routine-practice.html

What was different with Sec Clinton's email account was that it resided on her personally owned server, maintained by Government IT specialists and in a facility guarded by Government security personnel - the Secret Service. In terms of the legality there is no difference in using a personal email account with a commercial email service provider and using an email account that resides on a personally owned server. Another difference is that Commercial email accounts ARE NOT SECURE.


Commercial email account - NOT SECURE - UTTERLY, COMPLETELY (IOW: Clinton's set-up was more secure)

Note that commercial email service providers have cyber security personnel whose job is to protect their system from unauthorized intrusions by hackers and malware. That in order to do their job, they must be able to access/examine any email and attachments thereto in their system. IT therefore follows that NOBODY CAN GUARANTEE THAT ANY CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN AN EMAIL IN A COMMERCIAL EMAIL ACCOUNT WILL NOT BE SEEN BY NON GOVERNMENT PERSONS - WITHOUT GOVERNMENT SECURITY CLEARANCES. IOW, NOBODY CAN GUARANTEE THAT CLASSIFIED DATA IN SUCH ACCOUNTS HAS NOT BEEN COMPROMISED. It should be noted that the FBI found no evidence that Sec Clinton's server was successfully hacked. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for a number of Government computer systems during Sec Clinton's tenure - including that of the Dept. of State! The IT specialists maintaining Sec. Clinton's server added necessary anti-viral software to the server and contracted for additional security software to be installed - as is the same practice on other Government computer systems.






October 22, 2016

on July 11, Rep. Elijah Cummngs sent ltr to FBI Dir Comey asking for details about the 110 emails

described as containing classified information.

Rep Cummings asked for information from Dir Comey on how many individuals in DoS received these emails. He also asked Dir Comey if the DoS agreed with "the owning agency" that these emails contained classified information. (Dir Comey said emails that looked like they contained classified info were sent to the "owning agencies" to determine whether there was classified information in the emails). ...(note the State Dept has already issued a statement - before Cummings wrote this letter - that they DID NOT agree that the emails received by Clinton (assuming the reader already knows not one of the emails purported to contain classified information was initiated by Clinton) contained classified information. I think Rep Cummings want's Comey to admit, in writing, that he was aware of this disagreement even when he said - unequivocally - that the emails contained classified information.

Rep Cummings letter is here: http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/EEC%20to%20FBI%20Director%20Comey%2007-11-16.pdf

to date Dir Comey has not responded to this letter, and not answered Rep Cummings questions.

October 22, 2016

Trump: just a spoiled little rich kid who won't play unless everything's set up for him to win

Trump, with his 'Hillary hates Catholics' statement & his warning he will accept election result only if he wins ... clearly shows he's nothing more than a spoiled little rich kid who won't play unless he gets his way all the time.

NOt qualified to be President?? He's not qualified to be called an adult.



Trump’s Clinton 'Hates Catholics’ Joke Rankles Crowd At Al Smith Dinner

October 21, 2016

Internet struggles? It’s not you. A colossal hack has crippled America’s web address book

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/internet-attack-america-dyn-dns-ddos/


Trying to watch Netflix’s new season of “Black Mirror” but can’t connect? You’re not alone.

Early Friday, Hackers struck the New Hampshire-based web company Dyn, which controls one of the cornerstones of America’s internet infrastructure. The ongoing attack has spawned outages for major websites such as Twitter, Spotify, Amazon, Reddit, Airbnb, Tumblr and The New York Times.

Details are still unraveling, but here’s what we know so far.

At 7:10 am E.T., hackers performed a DDoS attack against Dyn’s Domain Name System services. Domain names are essentially the internet’s version of telephone numbers. So without these services, your computer cannot “call up” or connect to a website.
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October 20, 2016

Trump started chanting "election is rigged" as a reaction to talk of Russia's efforts 4 Trump


Trump like most Repugnants and in particular arch Conservatives can't come up with new ideas of their own. Their ideas are mostly framed as reactions to proposals by Democrats to make the social or economic situation better. Although, lately we've seen Republicans just coming out and saying "No" to anything Democrats propose (or anybody a Democratic president nominates) ... without even bothering with an ostensible counter idea.

October 19, 2016

ABC Nightline Does fine (ie digusting antireporting) job selling GOP Big Lies about Clinton's emails

I put the following comment on their web-page. ( I wonder if it will stay there?)

BTW, I think it would be great if other DUers put comments on these GOP Toadies page with this video of GOP Propaganda, and tell them their spreading disinformation is why so many are fleeing Corporate M$M to the internet to find out what the truth is.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/clinton-email-controversy-impacting-election-42899911



A Superlative job of selling the GOP Big Lie that Hillary
1) did something egregiously, terribly wrong with a personal email server, and

2) she lied about Classified emails.

You played a video of Comey lying when he said there was Classified Information on 110 emails (~56 emails chains) or about 0.2% out of 55,000 emails.

You try selling your reporting research, pointing out the hours of email reading your staff did - believing WikiLeaks/Assange that the emails are legitimate and not altered by Putin's peons (he's such a trustworthy fella!).

WHAT YOU REFUSE TO SHOW VIEWERS IS REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT ASKING COMEY ABOUT THE LACK OF CLASSIFIED HEADERS ON ANY OF THE EMAILS PURPORTED TO CONTAIN CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. COMEY HAD TO ADMIT NOT ONE OF THOSE EMAILS HAD A CLASSIFIED HEADER ON IT. COMEY ADMITTED THAT IT WOULD BE REASONABLE FOR A PERSON TO INFER, WITHOUT SUCH REQUIRED HEADERS, THERE WAS NO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN THE EMAILS.

WHAT YOU ALSO LEAVE OUT IS THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT STATED SOME TIME AGO THAT THEY DO NOT CONSIDER THE INFORMATION IN THOSE EMAILS TO BE CLASSIFIED - AT THE TIME THEY WERE SENT AND AT THE CURRENT TIME.
What you also do not inform your viewers of is WHAT ANYBODY WHO WORKS FOR THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS (INCL. MR. COMEY) - THAT THERE IS NOT UNIVERSAL AGREEMENT AMONG VARIOUS AGENCIES OF THE GOVERNMENT ON WHAT SHOULD BE CLASSIFIED AND WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE CLASSIFIED. And that it is not always a simple cut and dried decision as to what should be classified. There have even been several articles about the fact that the Government OVER-classifies information. THAT IS: There is too much stuff beng classfied.

When Comey said the emails contained Classified information he was leaving out the part that the Dept of State did NOT CONSIDER THE INFORMATION IN THOSE EMAILS CLASSIFIED AT THE TIME THEY WERE SENT. WHICH IS WHY NOT ONE OF THOSE EMAILS HAD A CLASSIFIED HEADER ON THEM.

But you are doing a good GOP toady job of helping sell their Big Lie that Clinton lied about the classified emails. CLINTON SAID: "i DID NOT SENT OR RECEIVE ANYTHING MARKED CLASSIFIED IN MY PERSONAL ACCOUNT"

Now, regards Clinton doing something extraordinarily out of bounds and unusual - more Big Lies. Colin Powell and Condi Rice had personal email accounts and they too conducted Government business out of these accounts and they too were found to have emails with classified information in them. AND ALSO LEFT OUT IS THE FACT THAT COLIN POWELL ADVISED CLINTON TO SET UP A PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNT (NOT USING GOVERNMENT SERVERS) AS HE DID. Powell had a commercial email account with AOL in which he did conduct Government official business.

Clinton's set up used a Government controlled computer on government protected property. ANOTHER THING GOP-TV OUTLETS HAVEN'T BREATHED A WORD ABOUT IS THAT USING A COMMERCIAL EMAIL ACCOUNT AS POWELL DID IS UTTERLY AND COMPLETELY NOT SECURE.

Commercial email service providers have cyber-security personnel whose job is to protect their system (i.e. their servers) from unauthorized intrusions by hackers and malware. TO DO THEIR JOBS THESE PEOPLE CAN EXAMINE ANY AND ALL EMAILS & ATTACHMENTS THERE-TO ON THEIR SYSTEMS. IT FOLLOWS THEREFORE, THAT ANY CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN ANY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES EMAILS (AS WAS FOUND IN POWELL'S AND RICE'S ACCOUNTS) HAS BEEN COMPROMISED. NOBODY CAN GUARANTEE THAT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN EMAILS IN COMMERCIAL EMAIL ACCOUNTS WILL NOT BE SEEN BY PERSONS WITHOUT GOVERNMENT SECURITY CLEARANCES.

ONE MORE THING: When Comey said anybody "should have" can we make charges on "should-haves"??? ... anyway when he said she 'should have known' she was dealing with classified information he was talking about the email chain which included as a subject a drone attack. IT WAS A DRONE ATTACK THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN DONE AND IT HAD BEEN DISCUSSED IN A NUMBER OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLES BEFORE THE DATE THE EMAIL DISCUSSION OF SAME TOOK PLACE. NOw, technically, you could say that drone strikes are always classified. BUT AS A PRACTICAL MATTER IT CERTAINLY CAN BE SAID THAT IF THE STRIKE HAD ALREADY OCCURRED AND THE INFORMATION IS OUT - IT'S NOT REALISTIC TO STILL SAY IT'S CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.

Congratulations ABC "News" team and Raddits in particular for doing such a great job helping to lend verisimilitude to the GOP Big Lies that there was classified information in her emails (all received by CLinton - none were initiated by Clinton) and that she lied about classified info in her emails.

This is why more and more people who want to know what REALLY is going on are fleeing Corporate M$M (i.e. GOP-TV) to the internet to find legitimate reporting on what's going on and why it is going on. I only watch GOP_TV to document instances of your aiding and abetting the GOP in their Disinformation campaign against the American public.
October 18, 2016

Elizabeth Warren: Trump didn’t invent the ‘rigged election’ myth. Republicans did

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/elizabeth-warren-trump-didnt-invent-the-rigged-election-myth-republicans-did/2016/10/18/921ac368-953b-11e6-9b7c-57290af48a49_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.fd8c11a223ba


Cratering in the polls, besieged by sexual assault allegations and drowning in his own disgusting rhetoric, Donald Trump has been reduced to hollering that November’s election is “rigged” against him. His proof? It looks like he’s going to lose.

Senior Republican leaders are scrambling to distance themselves from this dangerous claim. But Trump’s argument didn’t spring from nowhere. It’s just one more symptom of a long-running effort by Republicans to delegitimize Democratic voters, appointees and leaders. For years, this disease has infected our politics. It cannot be cured until Republican leaders rethink their approach to modern politics.

Anyone with children knows that whining about imaginary cheating is the last refuge of the sore loser. But GOP leaders have served up such a steady diet of stories about imaginary cheating that an Economist-YouGov poll shows that 45 percent of Republican voters believe voter fraud is a “very serious problem,” and 46 percent have little or no confidence that ballots will be counted accurately. They hold these views even though there is literally no evidence — none, zero, zip — that widespread voter fraud is a factor in modern American elections. A recent study looked at around a billion ballots cast in the United States from 2000 through 2014 and found only 31 instances of impersonation fraud at the polls.

Republican leaders — and even Trump’s running mate — have tried to tiptoe out of the room when Trump makes ever-wilder claims of a rigged election. But as much as these Republicans would like everyone to believe that this is a Trump-only problem, it’s not.
(more)

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About Bill USA

Quotes I like: "Prediction is very difficult, especially concerning the future." "There are some things so serious that you have to laugh at them.” __ Niels Bohr Given his contribution to the establishment of quantum mechanics, I guess it's not surprising he had such a quirky of sense of humor. ......................."Deliberate misinterpretation and misrepresentation of another's position is a basic technique of (dis)information processing" __ I said that
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