I just visited the Ken Blackwell site.

[MelissaB]

Is this old and useless news?

http://kenblackwell.com/accomplishments.asp?formmode=view&id=4

>>snip

Develop an integrated information and communications network linking the Secretary of State`s office to each county board of elections.

Ken Blackwell has brought online access to critical information at the Secretary of State’s Office to every board of elections. Computers with Internet access were installed in each of Ohio’s 88 county boards, giving election administrators the ability to communicate with each other and with the secretary of state via the Internet. This dramatically improves election administration through the rapid distribution of opinions, advisories and updates from the Secretary of State and through fast verification of voter records. The Secretary of State’s website is already one of the best around; providing historical election data, voter registration statistics, statewide election results, and many other valuable services. To go even further, the Secretary of State’s Office is currently working on a major web portal project that will bring online voter lists, an election advisory library and a Virtual Private Network to enable real-time election reporting on Election Day. Ken Blackwell is bringing 21st Century Technology into the homes of every citizen.

[Debbie13]

1. Man, this guy has got to be brought in for questioning

What is he hiding now?

[bemis12]

2. Holy crap

Internet access. I say we fry him.

[Twist_U_Up]

3. But yet

blackball can`t get a recount done in a timely manner................my hero
This fucking world is Warped
Check this out...... Big Oil at it again ?

http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=10211&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported]http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=10211&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported

Now I don’t claim to be an expert on seismic activity, but there has been a series of events which led up to the 9.0 earthquake of the coast of Indonesia which can not be ignored. This all could be an enormous coincidence, but one must look at the information and choose for themselves whether there is anything to it.
On November 28th, one month ago, Reuters reported that during a 3 day span 169 whales and dolphins beached themselves in Tasmania, an island of the southern coast of mainland Australia and in New Zealand. The cause for these beachings is not known, but Bob Brown, a senator in the Australian parliament, said "sound bombing" or seismic tests of ocean floors to test for oil and gas had been carried out near the sites of the Tasmanian beachings recently.

According to Jim Cummings of the Acoustic Ecology Institute, Seismic surveys utilizing airguns have been taking place in mineral-rich areas of the world’s oceans since 1968. Among the areas that have experienced the most intense survey activity are the North Sea, the Beaufort Sea (off Alaska’s North Slope), and the Gulf of Mexico; areas around Australia and South America are also current hot-spots of activity.

The impulses created by the release of air from arrays of up to 24 airguns create low frequency sound waves powerful enough to penetrate up to 40km below the seafloor. The “source level" of these sound waves is generally over 200dB (and often 230dB or more), roughly comparable to a sound of at least 140-170dB in air.

According to the Australian Conservation Foundation, these 200dB – 230dB shots from the airguns are fired every few seconds, from 10 meters below the surface, 24 hours a day, weather permitting.

These types of tests are known to affect whales and dolphins, whose acute hearing and use of sonar is very sensitive.

On December 24th there was a magnitude 8.1 earthquake more than 500 miles southeast of Tasmania near New Zealand, with a subsequent aftershock 6.1 a little later in the morning that same day.

[Wilms]

4. "...into the homes of every citizen."

That's kinda scary, too.:scared:

[MelissaB]

5. Thinking about this...

I know that I've seen this information before. I just didn't know it was on his website!

[bleever]

6. And yet none of the benefits of this kind of system were seen.

It sounds like it's supposed to make the whole election smoother, when in fact they couldn't allocate machines, couldn't verify eligible voters, couldn't ensure compliance with basic election law...the only thing that really did happen was that Kath had access to all the votes coming in.

Maybe we should call him Blackhole.

:mad:

[dzika]

7. I ran across a similar article about Blackwell. It kind of scared me

because he is really 'into' technology and information systems. He had much more knowledge than I would have expected from someone in his position.

I worked for State Gov. for years and I knew plenty of Secretaries and none of them were this swift.

Read it. You'll see what I mean...

from the 'Center for Digital Government'
http://www.centerdigitalgov.com/center/arenastory.php?docid=18160

[dzika]

8. Anyone?

[MelissaB]

9. I read it!

Are you referring to the last two paragraphs?

[MelissaB]

10. This one specifically...

CDG: If you could attempt another profession, what would it be?

KB: I really want to be in the theater of public administration. I want to be regarded not just as a thought leader, but as a person who has the capacity to master technology and applications, and master them in a way that it doesn't matter if I'm the secretary, treasurer, etc. What I have found is that there is a real art to public leadership and management that provides a way to get people to be unafraid of technology. And the way you do that is by helping people understand they can master change. They can get out in front of change and technology and realize they have nothing to fear.

[dzika]

13. Maybe I'm just looking at this too much...

To me, most of the stuff he said was well trained "industry speak". If you work in state gov't and know how to say that stuff (in 2002) then someone trained you... just my opinion.

In my state the relationship between the favored technology vendor and the State govt is very inter-twined... For example, the head of the our State's info processing agency was married to the owner of the technology vendor that you were nearly forced to buy from.

Of course, other vendors were on our contract but I quickly learned to play that game.

It sounds to me like Blackwell is in a similar situation. It sounds like he is in bed with a technology company and probably for a good reason.

Someone said something about a relationship between Triad and an Internet technology company... I can't remember the name right now. Maybe it had the same owner as Triad.

Anyway, I also remember that they said the company is running his Blackwell's website.

Ken has been quite a rising star for the R*s. He went from not really wanting the Secretary of State job to working his ass off (or so it seems to me) to get the SOS technology upgraded or replaced.

"I've tried to shift the agency's focus to the citizens of Ohio, and shifting it to citizen-centered e-government has allowed us to utilize best practices and customer input as the foundation for driving changes in the way services are provided. This is why we partner with citizens, customers, businesses and employees to provide clear, accurate information on what people want and need. We're also developing an integrated information and communication solutions through state-of-the-art technology that will allow people to provide input about their needs, so we can respond in a timely way. We want people's experience with us to far exceed their expectations. And we see technology as empowering and enabling us to develop direct and productive relationships with citizens and customers."

Maybe it's just me.

[Clark2008]

14. That's what I posted below (but before you)

that he's using "pat" industry terms. I don't see that he's being all that innovative, but I work in the tech field, so I see a lot of flaws in what he's saying.

It's like he studied a guide and spat back the answers with some vague knowledge of the terminology - enough to fool most people... but you're right. He went from not wanting a job to kicking butt trying to "improve" the technology.

[dzika]

17. That's what I meant.

Not that he knows how to work with technology but he's knows too many of the words. At least, when compared to the Secretaries that I have met.

The reason someone at his level would learn all of this is to grease the political machine. Most Secretaries that I knew of would have several people below them that could use this language and lobby for new technology. But the people at the top never had to do it.

I am suspicious as to why he would go to the trouble to do this himself.

I could be just slanted towards being suspicious of this guy. He talks about empowering citizen when I believe he was working to take the power of the citizens.

Just reaching a little too much, I guess.

Thanks for entertaining the thought.

[Clark2008]

11. He's smarter than the average election official

on E-government, but this line: "We went in and installed 94 phone lines - and with that installation provided modern technology to upgrade response capacity and better Internet service. With the reduced demand on the phone lines, we now average at peak times only four-minute waits. The number one complaint we get from some users is that they don't like the Kenny G wait music."

Means he doesn't know as much as he puts on. He could have gotten VoIP for much less than adding 94 phone lines... However, that's not your question...

Yes - he's smarter and more adept than the average election official and tends to use words that the average techno-phobe would sooner tune out. That might be his ace in the hole.

Because, honestly, he's not saying anything that many haven't said before. It's just he seems to be good at snowing folks by using pat technological terms.

[dzika]

15. Ok... Maybe I read to much into it.

Here is the Media Comm thread...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x202520

[lonestarnot]

21. ew he specifically mentions authentication and privacy as though

he is going out of his way to emphasize that he could breach both. Chilly... He is a freak!

[genieroze]

12. kick

[GetTheRightVote]

16. Yes, they must question him, he knows more then he is letting on from the

look of this reading. 21st Century Technology into every home is he, I smell a big rat...

:kick:

[joeunderdog]

18. Could the HD's be mined for election night correspondences?

Would data recovery reveal the game that Triad is covering up?

[dzika]

20. I'm having a really hard time understanding the pattern of FRAUD in Ohio

Sometimes it seems like it could be a group of people that weren't actually told to steal votes...

They had the opportunity and understood the cues. For example, the password to some voting machines being left on the manufactures website might have allowed someone to set the 'default' to Bush in the case of a vote not being cast.


And then sometimes it seems like there has to be a 'mastermind' or several of them behind the fraud. Like Triad+Blackwell+Rove.

If it were just individuals with the opportunity and the desire then I would think there would be more 'smoking guns'. More people = More mistakes.

If there were a 'mastermind' scenario then I would expect data recovery would not work because they would be prepared for that. After a hard drive has been wiped (not just deleted or formatted) then I an not aware of any forensic software that can retrieve the data.

Only if they employed a total novice would they miss this. I get the impression from the Media Comm thread that someone has some talent.

It just doesn't make sense.

[lonestarnot]

19. It is new to me! What a fatfuck! No wonder he doesn't want to sit in the

hot seat!