Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Tree in a tree



15 comments:

  1. The last post is up from the Arctic! And, oh my goodness, the author of it can certainly write well!
    http://shorebirdscience.org/the-last-days/

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  2. I remember flying into Fairbanks; of course things might have changed for the better in the interval, but there was more junk lying around than in any other place I ever saw. Junked cars, refrigerators, stoves, and no end of other stuff. It looked like when something wore out or was replaced it was just thrown into any handy open space and left. Probably it is too remote to justify gathering the iron and taking it for recycling. The general impression was of a place that simply survived one winter and got ready for the next. Lots of heavy drinking and sidearms. The bars in town closed at 2AM, and that is when the taxis did their best business (so I was informed), carrying patrons form the bars in town to the bars just outside of town that OPENED at 2AM. The flight line at the "international" airport looked like something out of a WWII movie--all propeller planes, DC-3's, the odd Constellation, etc. I never saw any place with so many Saab automobiles--this was in the day before they were stylish and expensive. Ditto Checkers, now extinct but very roomy and durable.

    Alan

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    1. I do believe they have cleaned up the place since then, though the drinking may remain. But the small prop planes are still prevalent because they can land in a small field vs a long runway.

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    2. Alan, just to add that the place my son was at in the Arctic, at the mouth of the Canning River where it dumps into the Arctic Ocean, is about 300mi north of Fairbanks, with not a town in sight. Nothing strewn along the riverbank or open spaces, unless perhaps a few bones left behind by a polar bear. The camp they maintain must be secured for the Winter, with anything edible placed into waterproof bags set inside bear-proof canisters, inside a temporary dwelling. It's carry in, carry out up there. If they left anything unapproved behind, they'd not be permitted to return.

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    3. I sort of understand the bar thing from the Christmas Day I spent in Ketchikan -- well south of Fairbanks -- on a business trip. It was dark at 4 pm and still dark past 8 am as I was driving to my scheduled interview. Gotta do *something.*

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  3. Replies
    1. I don't understand what it means to "hack a voting machine." Cast an unauthorized vote? But doesn't that require physical possession of the card on which the vote is recorded. And the article says activists want an auditable machine that doesn't have a paper trail. But isn't the paper trail precisely what makes it auditable? Very confusing.

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    2. From everything I've read they "flip" votes. That is they go in and change votes already cast to the opposite person. I have also read that even if you have a printed paper ballot the vote in the machine can still be changed to someone you didn't vote for. So if you voted for a Republican they'd change it to a Democrat and vice versa.

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    3. They'd still need physical possession of the card on which the votes are recorded. But if they are a registered voter in the precinct they could do that in order to "cast their own vote." They couldn't change the printed record, though, so that would show up on a recount.

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    4. I think it means they are able to change the tally...!

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    5. Bill, there are no cards involved with the use of electronic voting machines, at least not here in Ohio. The whole point of hacking is that you need not have physical possession of anything. It is all done electronically.

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  4. Donald J. Trump's new requirements for immigrants -- that they have skills and be able to speak English -- would effectively forbid him from living in the US. ~ Andy Borowitz

    The only thing DT has been able to repeal and replace is his own staff. ~ from Facebook

    When Trump leaves the White House, it won't be a dump anymore. ~ God (a Facebook page)

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  5. Poll: Americans Favor 3.5 Years Paid Leave for President ~ Andy Borowitz

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  6. White House Claims Poem on Statue of Liberty Reads 'Na Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye' ~ Andy Borowitz

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