Observations from the North

National Post/Reuters reprint: Dominion Voting Systems files $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News. This is the second 1+ billion $USD lawsuit they've filed, the first was a 1.3 Billion dollar defamation suit against Rudy Giuliani.

They'll be required to prove:

1. A false statement purporting to be fact
2. Publication or communication of that statement to a third person
3. Fault amounting to at least negligence
4. Damages, or some harm caused to the person or entity who is the subject of the statement.

Fox News should be able to defeat this pretty easily on points 1 and 3, as they can claim that they believed the information was true based on information they had at the time, and they felt it was important to bring to the public so they could make an informed opinion on events leading up to their choice on how to vote in the upcoming election. Proving actual fault or malice will be quite difficult.

The plaintiffs (Dominion Voting Systems Corp) should carefully consider how the discovery phase will go and what will be unearthed as evidence. Discovery goes both ways and can dig pretty deep. If Dominion does have any dirty secrets in how their machines operate, those will come out eventually.

There is a distinct possibility that somewhere there's a voting machine that has the same code that was being used during the 2020 USA election, and it hasn't been wiped or updated since. Many states have laws regarding preservation of election information and devices. While we know some states didn't follow their own laws in this regard, one or more may have. If such a machine surfaces (and at these dollar amounts at stake, I'd say it's a good bet one will if it exists) it will be tested as part of the case. Any aberrations in expected behavior will become part of the public record and will affect the outcome. The other case they have against Giuliani may have similar revelations that will affect this one, or vice-versa.

Don't expect either of these cases to reach resolution any time soon; expect litigation and appeals for years to come. There's a whole lot of legal fees to be milked from these, after all.

I can't wait to have my vote cast for a party I'd never support, by a machine that's programmed to simulate a fair election while giving us a predetermined outcome.

Edited next day to add: In past our Federal elections have been pretty bulletproof in terms of voting fraud. I can go into a long itemized list of the steps if anyone asks. It's hard to knock holes in the system we've used for decades though, as it's simple, verifiable at multiple layers, and difficult to game. "Keep it Simple Stupid" (KISS) was the principle that was followed.

Recently though, we've been enamored with electronic voting mechanisms of various types, including phone voting and voting applications on smart phones. This is for municipal and provincial votes, not federal (yet) but I fear it's coming.

You don't put on a condom if you're not going to have sex, and you don't build a system with obvious weaknesses in it unless [a] You intend for those weaknesses to be exploited (malice) or [b] you just hope they won't be exploited (stupidity.) Claiming otherwise is pissing on my leg and trying to tell me it's raining.

It's been a month since Jason Sanford wrote wrote his hit piece against Baen Books. Baen's Bar (their author/reader forum) is still unavailable. I remain pissed off that I never got a chance to see for myself and to possibly participate in an old school forum that I probably would have liked parts of.

Directly as a result of Mr. Sanford's meddling, I've purchased two of their monthly book bundles. More to come in subsequent months, I'm sure.

BleepingComputer claims: Twitter bug automatically suspends you when tweeting 'Memphis'. Note: User reports about this are now saying that this 'bug' has been fixed.

Newsflash: As the old tech joke says, "It's not a bug, it's a feature." That's their keyword based banning software working as intended, it's just that 'Memphis' somehow got added to the list. I'm getting mighty tired of social media companies getting caught being censorious, and then trying to claim "it was a software bug." I didn't believe them then, and now that they've over-used this lame excuse, I certainly don't believe them now.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises has decided to remove 6 of the Dr. Seuss series of children's books from publication:

1. ISBN 978-0-394-84494-7 : "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street"
2. ISBN 978-0-394-80083-7 : "McElligot's Pool"
3. ISBN 978-0-394-83296-8 : "The Cat's Quizzer"
4. ISBN 978-0-394-80081-3 : "If I Ran the Zoo"
5. ISBN 978-0-394-80084-4 : "On Beyond Zebra!"
6. ISBN 978-0-394-80085-1 : "Scrambled Eggs Super!"

This is already causing their prices to sky-rocket into the hundreds of dollars on various resale and auction sites, as speculators attempt to take advantage of the situation.

Here is the Statement on this issue from Dr. Seuss Enterprises:

March 2, 2021

Today, on Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises celebrates reading and also our mission of supporting all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship.

We are committed to action. To that end, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, working with a panel of experts, including educators, reviewed our catalog of titles and made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.

Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises contact information (according to zoominfo.com)
Address:
1200 PROSPECT ST STE 575
LA JOLLA CA 92037-3654

Phone number: (858) 459-9744 (That's a regular are code, NOT a toll free number.)

Note: They appear to be a small company with six employees working for them. If you choose to contact them directly regarding this issue, please be polite. Do not yell at, or berate the employees.

Perhaps encourage them to reverse their decision; point out the massive price increases as speculation takes place, or encourage them to place these six works into the public domain if they feel the works are no longer something they can ethically publish in good conscience.

Splunk Style Guide

Nope. I'm not playing your silly little games of what is acceptable terminology and what isn't. Go be in the stupid corner.

*closes browser, opens Kindle* - Blessed are the fiction authors who seek to entertain, for they help me keep my sanity.