February 20, 2006
Experiments at Work
Kay-Yut Chen works for Hewlett-Packard as an experimental economist. Doing stuff like testing incentive programs and contracts. Very cool.
What I'd like to see is experimental democracy.
Back when I was an engineering manager, I experimented with group decision making structures and processes. That experience leads me to believe that there is huge potential for using democracy in the workplace.
More recently, I'm becoming an activist for fair elections. There's a lot of rhetoric and ideology about what works and doesn't work. I'd like to know with greater certainty.
What I'd like to see is experimental democracy.
Back when I was an engineering manager, I experimented with group decision making structures and processes. That experience leads me to believe that there is huge potential for using democracy in the workplace.
More recently, I'm becoming an activist for fair elections. There's a lot of rhetoric and ideology about what works and doesn't work. I'd like to know with greater certainty.
February 15, 2006
Fair Elections Mtg 2/28: Local and Natl Election Integrity Efforts
Washington Citizens for Fair Elections Meeting Announcement
Tuesday February 28th, 2006
Holly Jacobson of Voter Action will speak on Local and National Election Integrity Efforts
6:00pm - 9:00pm in Room 209
University Heights Center for the Community Center
5031 University Way NE Seattle, WA 98105
Voter Action is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing legal, research and logistical support for grassroots efforts with the goal of ensuring the integrity of elections in the United States.
Co-Director Holly Jacobson will cover their efforts in New Mexico to date, including restoring the use of paper ballots, legal challenges to DREs (aka "black box voting"), accessibility issues for the disabled, and auditing recent elections. Holly will also speak about upcoming national legal actions, and what ordinary citizens can do to help protect their democracy from election privatization.
Washington Citizens for Fair Elections is a grassroots, multi- partisan group educating others about election reform issues and working for open, fair, and verifiable elections.
AGENDA
6:00 Doors Open (Potlatch food, drink.)
7:00 Group Business
Announcements
Legislation Update
Vote by mail status update
7:15 Voter Action- What we learned in New Mexico (Holly Jacobson)
7:45 Q A
8:00 Local and National Efforts (Holly Jacobson)
8:30 Q A
8:45 Wrap up
MORE INFO
Washington Citizens for Fair Elections web site http://wafairelections.org
Discussion list hosted at http://groups.yahoo.com/wa-fairelections/
Please visit http://uhcca.org/ for directions to meeting.
Tuesday February 28th, 2006
Holly Jacobson of Voter Action will speak on Local and National Election Integrity Efforts
6:00pm - 9:00pm in Room 209
University Heights Center for the Community Center
5031 University Way NE Seattle, WA 98105
Voter Action is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing legal, research and logistical support for grassroots efforts with the goal of ensuring the integrity of elections in the United States.
Co-Director Holly Jacobson will cover their efforts in New Mexico to date, including restoring the use of paper ballots, legal challenges to DREs (aka "black box voting"), accessibility issues for the disabled, and auditing recent elections. Holly will also speak about upcoming national legal actions, and what ordinary citizens can do to help protect their democracy from election privatization.
Washington Citizens for Fair Elections is a grassroots, multi- partisan group educating others about election reform issues and working for open, fair, and verifiable elections.
AGENDA
6:00 Doors Open (Potlatch food, drink.)
7:00 Group Business
Announcements
Legislation Update
Vote by mail status update
7:15 Voter Action- What we learned in New Mexico (Holly Jacobson)
7:45 Q A
8:00 Local and National Efforts (Holly Jacobson)
8:30 Q A
8:45 Wrap up
MORE INFO
Washington Citizens for Fair Elections web site http://wafairelections.org
Discussion list hosted at http://groups.yahoo.com/wa-fairelections/
Please visit http://uhcca.org/ for directions to meeting.
February 10, 2006
Wingnut Pathology
Below is my response to How The Wingnuts Destroyed My Best Friend. NickM (the original poster) relates how his best friend growing up became an increasingly extreme winger, destroying their friendship. We all have similar stories, if not so intense.
It's a problem that requires some novel thinking, because what we're doing so far really isn't working. Put another way, eventually, we're going to have to figure out how to reconcile with our opponents. Below is the best I've come up with so far (not much).
(cross-posted to WashBlog)
---
Hiya. That's a tough story. My heart goes out to you. I often think about how the Civil War divided this country, right through families, friends, churches, etc. I don't have time to read everyone's responses, so I'm sorry if this is a repeat.
Anger is an addiction. For the most part, we're born without anger. It's an acquired trait. And it's really, really hard to unlearn.
Years ago, I read McKay's When Anger Hurts. I learned that anger is a habit and there's a cascade (which starts with expectations). Knowing this, it took years of effort to replace my anger habit with new habits. I don't know if I'll ever fully shed my old anger ways.
More recently, I'm been trying to grasp how people think. Emotional intelligence, social cognition, cultural evolution, why people believe obviously wrong stuff, why people fail (despite their best efforts), etc.
One very challenging book is How The Way We Talk Can Change The Way We Work by Kegan and Lahey. I think their core idea is that how you talk changes how you think. It's a really goofy idea. That said, it's been my experience that it's true. Further, this notion (theory?) keeps popping up in various places. (I've got links for some other great books, but I have to dash to work.)
These days, I consider wingnutitis to be a social pathology akin to cults and prejudice. From over here, it looks like the same phenomenon. I don't know if this view is helpful in the long run. But day to day, it helps me by depersonalizing the conflicts and disapointments around me.
It's a problem that requires some novel thinking, because what we're doing so far really isn't working. Put another way, eventually, we're going to have to figure out how to reconcile with our opponents. Below is the best I've come up with so far (not much).
(cross-posted to WashBlog)
---
Hiya. That's a tough story. My heart goes out to you. I often think about how the Civil War divided this country, right through families, friends, churches, etc. I don't have time to read everyone's responses, so I'm sorry if this is a repeat.
Anger is an addiction. For the most part, we're born without anger. It's an acquired trait. And it's really, really hard to unlearn.
Years ago, I read McKay's When Anger Hurts. I learned that anger is a habit and there's a cascade (which starts with expectations). Knowing this, it took years of effort to replace my anger habit with new habits. I don't know if I'll ever fully shed my old anger ways.
More recently, I'm been trying to grasp how people think. Emotional intelligence, social cognition, cultural evolution, why people believe obviously wrong stuff, why people fail (despite their best efforts), etc.
One very challenging book is How The Way We Talk Can Change The Way We Work by Kegan and Lahey. I think their core idea is that how you talk changes how you think. It's a really goofy idea. That said, it's been my experience that it's true. Further, this notion (theory?) keeps popping up in various places. (I've got links for some other great books, but I have to dash to work.)
These days, I consider wingnutitis to be a social pathology akin to cults and prejudice. From over here, it looks like the same phenomenon. I don't know if this view is helpful in the long run. But day to day, it helps me by depersonalizing the conflicts and disapointments around me.
February 09, 2006
The Last American President?
I was reflecting on the eulogy Bill Clinton gave during Coretta Scott King's funeral. (ABC video online.) He's an incredible speaker. And I liked his message.
There's all these pro Clinton books, anti Clinton books, and acres of archives. Sy Hersh dismisses the Clintons as crooks. Who knows? The lunatics did spend, what, $74m?, on an investigation and turned up a blue dress. Who among us could withstand such scrutiny?
I figure the true accounting of Clinton will be told in 30 or 40 years. That's about how long it took to resolve the JFK assination. And, in hindsight, we're pretty settled that JFK wasn't a terrific president or anything.
Then I got to thinking, when they tell the story of Clinton, I wonder if he will be noted as the last democratically elected President of the United States of America.
Races, including the presidential, were stolen in 2000 and 2004. Some of the races in 2002 were fishy. 2006 will be a very interesting year. The country is swinging very anti-GOP. And yet, the GOP will pull out all the stops to retain their power.
Given what we know already, the GOP simply cannot afford to relinquish power. They've acted like they'll retain power. What makes them so cavalier about the rule of law, corruption, pissing on the Constitution, etc? I assume they believe they'll never have to answer for their misdeeds.
There's all these pro Clinton books, anti Clinton books, and acres of archives. Sy Hersh dismisses the Clintons as crooks. Who knows? The lunatics did spend, what, $74m?, on an investigation and turned up a blue dress. Who among us could withstand such scrutiny?
I figure the true accounting of Clinton will be told in 30 or 40 years. That's about how long it took to resolve the JFK assination. And, in hindsight, we're pretty settled that JFK wasn't a terrific president or anything.
Then I got to thinking, when they tell the story of Clinton, I wonder if he will be noted as the last democratically elected President of the United States of America.
Races, including the presidential, were stolen in 2000 and 2004. Some of the races in 2002 were fishy. 2006 will be a very interesting year. The country is swinging very anti-GOP. And yet, the GOP will pull out all the stops to retain their power.
Given what we know already, the GOP simply cannot afford to relinquish power. They've acted like they'll retain power. What makes them so cavalier about the rule of law, corruption, pissing on the Constitution, etc? I assume they believe they'll never have to answer for their misdeeds.
February 07, 2006
Fair Play
The petition insisting NFL officiating must be improved cheers me up and gives me hope. Of all the things that are wrong in America today, one thing that remains right is the common belief that fairness counts.
I quickly scanned a bunch of the comments. This one caught my eye:
I quickly scanned a bunch of the comments. This one caught my eye:
#3076 - As an official myself, it is always embarrassing when you hear that the people that are supposed to be unbiased and objective have directly influenced the outcome of any contest. This is not the final solution, but obviously the NFL lacks the initiative and the respect for the game and its fans to have done something about this sooner. The "good ol' boy" network has just bitten itself off a piece of the American sports fan base, and I hope they get indigestion in the worst way. More importantly, they have a responsibility for upholding the integrity of the game and the spirit of the rules on such a grand stage, which was built by the fans who are willing to forgive the millionaire crybaby players and the billionaire crybaby owners who charge exorbitant prices while taking in billions from TV and merchandise revenues. Paul Tagliabue has helped increase the owners' incomes by five times since 1989; let's invest a little back into officiating, shall we? All we want is for the players to be allowed to play!
- Steven P Williams
McCain's Hissy Fit
From: Jason Aaron Osgood
To: Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Subject: Hissy Fit
Date: Tuesday February 7th, 2006
Senator McCain-
Over on dailyKos, we're laughing about your hissy fit directed at Senator Obama.
I geniunely appreciate your work on clean elections in Arizona, something I hope Washington State emulates. And I respect your defense of Native American interests against the systematic and cynical extortion and looting by Republicans.
But I think Obama's right on this one. Entrusting Republicans to address this institutionalized corruption would be like asking the members of Arsonists Anonymous to serve as volunteer firefighters.
All my best.
Cheers, Jason Aaron Osgood / Seattle WA
PS- I'm still pissed about Bush's dirty tricks in South Carolina. I wish you were too.
To: Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Subject: Hissy Fit
Date: Tuesday February 7th, 2006
Senator McCain-
Over on dailyKos, we're laughing about your hissy fit directed at Senator Obama.
I geniunely appreciate your work on clean elections in Arizona, something I hope Washington State emulates. And I respect your defense of Native American interests against the systematic and cynical extortion and looting by Republicans.
But I think Obama's right on this one. Entrusting Republicans to address this institutionalized corruption would be like asking the members of Arsonists Anonymous to serve as volunteer firefighters.
All my best.
Cheers, Jason Aaron Osgood / Seattle WA
PS- I'm still pissed about Bush's dirty tricks in South Carolina. I wish you were too.
February 03, 2006
Citizen's Action: Audit All Voting Machines
I know this is pretty arcane stuff. But this legislation is very important to ensuring the integrity of our elections. Please take a moment and support this bill. Thanks.
VotersUnite and VoteTrustUSA have launched a Citizen's Action in support of HB-2532. Please click here to send a message to your Washington State legislators urging them to support this important legislation.
Last year the Washington state legislature listened to the voters in the state and voted, with only one dissenting vote, to require that all Direct Recording Electronic voting machines provide a voter verified paper audit trail. That legislation also included a requirement that the audit trail be used to check the machine count. This session Rep. Toby Nixon, (R-45th District) filed HB-2532, "A Bill Providing For Election Audits". This bill closes the hole that was left by last year's legislation by requiring an audit of the state's optical scan machines.
It is clear that optical-scan machines must be verified as well as DREs. All of the testing that is done does not bar mistakes from happening on election day. An audit will help to detect mistakes so they can be corrected, ensure all ballots are counted in the present election, and give voters more confidence that their votes were counted as cast. In counties that use optical scan counting devices, the county auditor must conduct an audit of the votes counted by the optical scan counting devices used in the county before certification of any election or machine recount.
Under the new legislation the audits would be conducted using the following process:
If there is a difference between the machine count and the manual count, the results of the manual count will be the official count for the election for the affected races or issues. The auditor must document and explain the reason for any difference between the machine and the manual recount. If the difference cannot be explained by any reason other than a machine counting error, any party, candidate, or person representing either side of a ballot measure may request a complete recount of votes for that particular office or issue. Results of the audit would be posted on the auditor's website.
Please click here to send a message to your Washington State Representative urging support of HB-2352 and to your State Senator asking them to support companion legislation in the Senate.
VotersUnite and VoteTrustUSA have launched a Citizen's Action in support of HB-2532. Please click here to send a message to your Washington State legislators urging them to support this important legislation.
Last year the Washington state legislature listened to the voters in the state and voted, with only one dissenting vote, to require that all Direct Recording Electronic voting machines provide a voter verified paper audit trail. That legislation also included a requirement that the audit trail be used to check the machine count. This session Rep. Toby Nixon, (R-45th District) filed HB-2532, "A Bill Providing For Election Audits". This bill closes the hole that was left by last year's legislation by requiring an audit of the state's optical scan machines.
It is clear that optical-scan machines must be verified as well as DREs. All of the testing that is done does not bar mistakes from happening on election day. An audit will help to detect mistakes so they can be corrected, ensure all ballots are counted in the present election, and give voters more confidence that their votes were counted as cast. In counties that use optical scan counting devices, the county auditor must conduct an audit of the votes counted by the optical scan counting devices used in the county before certification of any election or machine recount.
Under the new legislation the audits would be conducted using the following process:
- the county auditor first determines how many voters make up two percent of the registered voters in that county;
- the county canvassing board then selects, by lot, precincts to be audited until the total number of voters in the selected precincts exceeds two percent of the registered voters in the county;
- on the day of the election, the list of precincts selected for audit is released;
- after the list is released, the county auditor selects, by lot, three races or issues, or a combination thereof, in each selected precinct for a manual recount.
- the county canvassing board determines the date, time, and location of where the manual audit will take place, and the public is given notice thereof at least seventy-two hours in advance;
- at the designated place, the canvassing board opens the sealed containers containing the ballots, and conducts a manual count of the votes for the offices or issues selected for the audit.
If there is a difference between the machine count and the manual count, the results of the manual count will be the official count for the election for the affected races or issues. The auditor must document and explain the reason for any difference between the machine and the manual recount. If the difference cannot be explained by any reason other than a machine counting error, any party, candidate, or person representing either side of a ballot measure may request a complete recount of votes for that particular office or issue. Results of the audit would be posted on the auditor's website.
Please click here to send a message to your Washington State Representative urging support of HB-2352 and to your State Senator asking them to support companion legislation in the Senate.
Vote By Mail Talk for LPKC
Phil Harrison and I did a presentation for the Libertarian Party for King County Wednesday night (2/1/2006). It was a lot of fun. Phil talked about our grassroots effort, Washington Citizens for Fair Elections, and the history of unfair elections. I did a brief survey of election reform and what we've learned about vote by mail.
John Evans saw our group's meeting announcement for vote by mail. He contacted us, asking if we could speak to their group. It just kind of worked out.
I think the LPKC is a great group. My girlfriend and I started going to political events a few months ago. It hasn't always been fun. I'm happy to report the LPKC is social, open, and we felt comfortable just hanging out with everyone.
Phil's presentation was great. He's kind of a quiet guy. So I'm always surprised when his passion and convictions well up inside him and it all comes gushing out. Phil briefly summarized the history of the voting franchise as well as voting and election fraud in our country. Saying stuff like "collective amnesia" and "we've never had a full democracy". I loved it. Phil drew heavily on Andrew Gumbel's "Steal This Vote" and "What Went Wrong in Ohio".
Funny Aside: Phil playfully explained calling our group "fair elections", so that if you oppose us, you're for "unfair elections". This Republican dude, pretty smart guy, says "well, that's a false tautology". Cracked me up.
First I did a survey of election reform, breaking it down into voting, elections, campaigns, and representation. I listed other local groups addressing various aspects of election reform. For instance, under voting, Your Vote Counts addresses disenfranchisement and Voter Integrity Project focuses on vote fraud.
Currently, our group is focused on open, fair, and verifiable elections. Hence our interest in black box voting and vote by mail. (Neither system is transparent.)
Next I did a survey of vote by mail, the issues, benefits, and risks. I'm by no means an expert, so I just recapped what we learned during our own presentation a few weeks early. Here's my slideshow.
Still being new to this kind of thing, I kind of screwed up. For instance, I forgot to do a before and after strawpoll. We did that at our meeting a week before. Prior to the presentation, support for vote by mail was evenly split. Afterwards, it was 2:1 against.
John Evans saw our group's meeting announcement for vote by mail. He contacted us, asking if we could speak to their group. It just kind of worked out.
I think the LPKC is a great group. My girlfriend and I started going to political events a few months ago. It hasn't always been fun. I'm happy to report the LPKC is social, open, and we felt comfortable just hanging out with everyone.
Phil's presentation was great. He's kind of a quiet guy. So I'm always surprised when his passion and convictions well up inside him and it all comes gushing out. Phil briefly summarized the history of the voting franchise as well as voting and election fraud in our country. Saying stuff like "collective amnesia" and "we've never had a full democracy". I loved it. Phil drew heavily on Andrew Gumbel's "Steal This Vote" and "What Went Wrong in Ohio".
Funny Aside: Phil playfully explained calling our group "fair elections", so that if you oppose us, you're for "unfair elections". This Republican dude, pretty smart guy, says "well, that's a false tautology". Cracked me up.
First I did a survey of election reform, breaking it down into voting, elections, campaigns, and representation. I listed other local groups addressing various aspects of election reform. For instance, under voting, Your Vote Counts addresses disenfranchisement and Voter Integrity Project focuses on vote fraud.
Currently, our group is focused on open, fair, and verifiable elections. Hence our interest in black box voting and vote by mail. (Neither system is transparent.)
Next I did a survey of vote by mail, the issues, benefits, and risks. I'm by no means an expert, so I just recapped what we learned during our own presentation a few weeks early. Here's my slideshow.
Still being new to this kind of thing, I kind of screwed up. For instance, I forgot to do a before and after strawpoll. We did that at our meeting a week before. Prior to the presentation, support for vote by mail was evenly split. Afterwards, it was 2:1 against.
