Someone's Calling Shenanigans

This story is interesting to me because I'm sort of a crypto-nerd, and definitely computer scientist, and one of the intersections of those disciplines is voting machines.

On Tuesday, the 22nd, cryptographer Matthew Green tweets about an article about J. Alex Haldeman, a computer science professor and supposedly serious election systems researcher, in NYMag:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/activists-urge-hillary-clinton-to-challenge-election-results.html

The gist is, Haldeman thinks the votes in 3 states are worth re-counting. The clues: Electronic voting machines have been shown repeatedly to be vulnerable, recently there have been known hacks by foreign nationals, and there are some disturbing statistics in the swing states: Counties which used electronic voting were 7% off of counties which didn't.

The next day, Haldeman writes a piece on Medium clarifying his position:

https://medium.com/@jhalderm/want-to-know-if-the-election-was-hacked-look-at-the-ballots-c61a6113b0ba#.6ja3dhg56

It's more measured, essentially saying that he does not believe that the election was hacked, but that we need a recount to have faith in the election (and to know if we *were* hacked.)

Also today, Jill Stein is asking for donations to do a recount. She's doing pretty well so far:

https://jillstein.nationbuilder.com/recount

Exciting times...

P.S. I forgot to mention that Ron Rivest (the "R" in RSA) shows that you only need to count 2.3% of the ballots for confidence:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZM-i8t4pMK0

Election Thoughts

I haven't had time to write a longer piece on my thoughts about the election. I've only written little responses to other posts. Here are some extended thoughts that I haven't heard already.

One of the biggest thing that bothers me after this election is the harassment that some on the right are giving to supposed minorities. I have co-workers who, because they don't look completely White, are being yelled at to, "Go back to where you came from!"

These co-workers are well-dressed and well-groomed. They do not look like gang members or "job-stealing" migrant farm workers. They dress as affluent Americans.

The harassers are not "rednecks". They aren't missing teeth, they do not have a Confederate flag on their shirt, nor do they have a gun rack in their truck.

This isn't Arkansas or Mississippi. This is California.

In other words, these are perfectly educated (as far as I know) people, living in the most prosperous state in the union, complaining about perfectly productive people. I'm trying to figure out exactly what their problem is.

It would appear that these people are jealous that someone who doesn't look completely White was able to afford a nice shirt. Or nice slacks.

It would appear that these people are jealous that someone who doesn't look completely White got a white-collar job that they don't have. Even though they didn't apply for the job, much less go to college.

It would appear that these people, upon seeing someone less-than-White, and perceiving them as more successful, become insanely jealous. Perhaps they concluded that the person could not have gotten this success without cheating. In any case, the person concludes that the other person stole their opportunity somehow.

In other words, it would appear that it is precisely because they are so nicely dressed that the harassers are getting angry.

I guess now we have neo-Nazis coming out the woodwork, thinking they have some kind of majority. They're having their rallies and threatening minorities whenever it suits them.

My message to people-who-voted-for-Trump (notice I didn't say, "supporters") would be to stand up and yell at the top of your lungs that you don't support this racial hatred. Say that your vote for Trump had nothing to do with racism, and that you abhor the behavior of these bigots.

Why should you do it, instead of me? First, I am saying it. Second, they won't listen to me. You voted for Trump. They think you're on their side. The more Trump-voters who say they detest racism, the more you eat away at this imaginary majority.

Hopefully, when they look behind them and don't see anyone there, they might get the message.

Facebook is the new Fox News

Profits before propriety.

http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/11/the-forces-that-drove-this-elections-media-failure-are-likely-to-get-worse/

You Reap What You Sow

This post is addressed to the people who voted for Trump. We know that you're out there, even if you won't admit it. You have complained about pretty much every piece of Obama policy. You think that this country is worse off than it was 8 years ago, even though:

• Bush left office with a 25% approval rating; Obama's is 52.1%, higher than Reagan's
• Obama saved GM, preserving a million factory jobs
• the Dow is TWICE what it was the day he took office (18,000 vs 9,000)

Guess what? You're going to get everything you asked for. You want Republicans? You got 'em! In all 3 branches of government!

Remember the vacant seat on the Court? The one that the Senate refused to fill? Good news! You can bet it will get filled with someone who will side with Walmart and Wells-Fargo when they come to take your house away.

Remember the Bush administration? Remember Dick Cheney and Dennis Hastert? They're all back!

So, in the interest of nostalgia, and remembering the good ol' days, here is a list of what the Bush administration did that you can expect the Trump/Ryan administration to repeat:

• Lower taxes for the ultra-rich, exploding the deficit.
• Give $600 to the rest of you, which you have to give it back at the end of the year.
• Leave AMT where it is, raising your taxes. Remember: The rich don't pay AMT! Only you do!
• De-fund Amtrak, raising airline ticket prices.
• De-fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (e.g. Downton Abbey, Sesame Street).
• De-fund the National Parks.
• Tell the oil drillers that they can do whatever they want, resulting in drilling and fracking right outside your home, and new earthquake fields.
• Buy up all the surplus oil - with your tax dollars! - and put it in the National Reserve, sending gasoline back to all time highs.
• Tell the banks that they can do whatever they want, resulting in the biggest financial collapse since the Great Depression.
• Go to sleep on the job, resulting in the biggest terrorist attack in America's history.
• Invade a country for the purpose of financially benefiting the members of the Administration.

You can bet that they'll add:

• Repeal the Affordable Care Act, killing any chance for 20 million Americans to get health insurance.
• Remember those tech companies you revile with a jealous tinge? No Cadillac tax for them! Yay!
• Expel illegal immigrants, raising the price of food.
• Raise tariffs on Chinese goods, making a hair dryer cost more than a clothes dryer.

Congratulations, America! You earned it!