Guy Fawkes' night

Last night we had a very nice visit to qidane for barbecued sausages and impressive fireworks and colorful flames in the bonfire. He always puts thoughtful effort into arrangements and he has an interesting range of friends to talk to. Such social events make a welcome difference in my life. mst3kmoxie made some parkin for the occasion which turned out very well.

Vote counting evincing emergent mediocrity

The USA is a wealthy advanced nation. If vote-counting must be computer-assisted then we have known for years various methods of making that process easy, verifiable, fast and trustworthy: if one peruses the literature it is both interesting and makes good sense. Yet, long after the Help America Vote Act was passed, Bloomberg Businessweek is accurately reporting that The Computer Voting Revolution Is Already Crappy, Buggy, and Obsolete. The situation is as shamefully revealing as the transparent legislative efforts to effect voter suppression. Not only is it outrageous both administratively and morally but, from the nation that was first to land men on the moon, I wonder if the ongoing failure to reach such a technically achievable goal could make a valuable and suggestive object lesson in how and when democratic governance fails.

If this coming week the US Senate hangs in the balance then I fear what new avoidable embarrassments will justify lack of faith in the electoral process.

Update: Well I suppose that's one bullet we dodged this time around.