We've been Sick! Light bloggin this week as I've been out of commission. Bad multi-day cold. Also we are searching for a new home, and that can take a lot out of you.

Voting Blues. This excerpt regarding voting machines:
A California advisory panel recommended banning touch-screen voting machines made by Diebold Election Systems, complaining of malfunctions during March's primary election. The members said the state should consider civil and criminal charges against the company, which still argues that its devices are safe and secure. At least 50 million Americans will vote with the computers this November.

Now, why would a software glitch require that the state of California press charges against the software developer? It's a crime not to write bug free code?
I've been wondering for some time whether this electronic voting stuff was worth the while. I've always thought that the old mechanical voting booth was the best option into the future. Voting electronically (even on line, which has been proposed) seems like asking for trouble. Really, despite my initial distaste with ballot-by-mail, which we have here in Oregon for ALL elections, it is really quite sensible. And it's very paper oriented, which means that there's no hacking. It also means I can make my educated choice, mail my ballot in, and then not have to pay attention to the electoral spam that comes in the mail and on TV.