Sunday, November 7, 2004

Welcome to Jesusland

Interesting talk on The McLaughlin Group this week about the division between the "Jesusland" parts of the country (who mostly receive more Federal $$ than they pay in, BTW) and the other "non-Jesusland" states that could give rise to a revolt over the next four years, especially if fundamentalist judge appointments appear during this second term.

The Blogging of the President: 2004: Jesusland



Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Strange blog spam?

I have gotten two spam blog posts (aside: so, should blog spam be called spog or splog?) recently that I can't figure out what the person's motivation is. They were very similar in style:


  • They were both posts consisting of one line of text

  • They both had a first name as the user name

  • They both included a URL that was not registered or accessible that was related to their name

  • They both used name-based hotmail IDs (not sure if they are even valid) for email addresses

  • They were both posted within just over 2 hours of each other

  • They both were posted to old posts

  • Neither had anything to do with the post itself



All of these factors lead me to conclude that they were bogus and so both were rejected.

(MT-Blacklist ROCKS, BTW!!!)

One of the comments said simply:

"Does this form work like a guestbook?"


The other said:

"First time reading this blog, just wanted to say hi."


I could perhaps understand if the URLs they provided were valid, but otherwise, I can't understand what these posts were trying to do. Perhaps they were just trying to see how they could slip in under the radar for future spam attacks?

Other evidence culled from the logs confirms my suspicions that these are not legit:

The first one has a user-agent of PERL's LWP module:

69.193.88.30 - - [03/Nov/2004:13:08:11 -0800] "POST /blog-bin/mt-comments.cgi HTTP/1.1" 200 1794 "-" "libwww-perl/5.65"

Hmmm. Same thing with the next one, but from a slightly different IP and using an older LPW module:

69.193.101.102 - - [03/Nov/2004:15:23:23 -0800] "POST /blog-bin/mt-comments.cgi HTTP/1.1" 200 1794 "-" "libwww-perl/5.64"


Monday, November 1, 2004

One thing I agree with the President on...

The Daily Show pointed out that in a recent speech on the campaign trail, the president laid out this gem about the recent missing 380 tons of explosives in Iraq:

"The investigation is important and it's ongoing. And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts, is not a person you want as your Commander-in-Chief."


Indeed. At least I can agree with the president on this statement. It does not apply in this context, but there is this debacle going on in Iraq...

WE NEED VOTER-VERIFIABLE PAPER TRAILS!!!

To all of you who are claiming to this day that with current security knowledge and technology we can have all-electronic voting equipment and still have a meaningful recount, read this story. Un-be-freaking-leivable.

local6.com - News - 13,000 Ballots Rushed From Voting Site, Must Be Recounted



Be prepared on election day: Find your polling place

A great site that will tell you where you should go vote and other information about your polling place. You can even get text message reminders on voting day.

MyPollingPlace.com



Be prepared, and know your rights for Election Day 2004

The Rittenhouse Review: LET NO KERRY VOTER LEAVE LINE

some interesting thoughts about Election Day that are worth keeping in mind heading toward -- and on -- Tuesday.


Also, check out the similar information in the Voter bill of rights

Pathetic GOP deception tactics in Florida

Just pathetic. Amazing how the GOP will stoop to any level to try to re-elect W. From deception to outright lies on the campaign trail, to continued distortion. But I guess their end justifies the means? What kind of an America is it that you stand for again, Mr. President?

Joshuah Bearman: How They Do, Part III

The ruse, apparently, was supposed to target this church-going Democratic crowd by misrepresenting Kerry�s politics. It was a little surprising at first; but then again, that�s the only way Republicans can win: by misleading people.