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peppertree's JournalElectronic voting machines at heart of Congo election crisis raise alarm in Argentina
Argentine politics have been rattled since revelations yesterday that the electronic voting machines behind the ongoing post-electoral crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were the same ordered in 2016 by Argentine President Mauricio Macri in a failed attempt to impose their use nationwide.
The D.R. Congo, a central African nation of 85 million, was plunged into its most serious political crisis in two decades when on January 11 the main opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu, denounced large-scale tabulation fraud in presidential elections held on December 30.
Initial results gave Félix Tshisekedi, an ally of outgoing President Joseph Kabila, a 3.8% margin of victory over Fayulu (38.6% to 34.8%).
Data leaked from the Congo's own National Electoral Commission, however, showed Fayulu winning 59% of the vote - a figure roughly consistent with the Congolese Catholic Church's estimate of 62.8%.
Argentine connection
The electronic voting machines used in these elections were made by the South Korean firm Miru Systems Co. - the same firm contracted by Macri's then-Modernization Minister, Andrés Ibarra, in July 2016 to provide up to 130,000 such units.
Ibarra was forced to cancel their purchase after testimony demonstrating gaping security flaws persuaded Argentina's Congress to nix the electronic vote bill in November 2016.
The units used in the recent Congolese election were not only identical to those Ibarra had purchased; but their demo material, U.S.-based election integrity watchdog The Sentry reported, was in Spanish and featured the names of Argentine candidates.
The data alteration, cybersecurity specialists note, would have occurred in the data transmission phase from the electronic terminals to the tabulation center in the capital, Kinshasa.
This is the very phase which Macri is now seeking to automate through the use of SmartMatic software - whose use in Venezuela from 2004 to 2017 has been linked to reports of tabulation irregularities.
"That the machines used in the Congo were designed for Argentina is beyond doubt," Beatriz Busaniche, head of the local political rights NGO Fundación Vía Libre noted. "In the Congolese elections everything we said would happen, happened."
It's who counts the votes
Macri, whose reelection chances have faded amid the deepest economic crisis since 2002, is nevertheless pressing on with plans to impose electronic voting and tabulations in as many provinces as possible - particularly those governed by allies who could circumvent federal law barring their use.
The nation's largest district, Buenos Aires Province (home to 3/8 of Argentina's 44 million people), is already seeking its implementation. The neighboring city of Buenos Aires, a Macri stronghold, has used electronic voting since the 2015 mayoral election - which Macri's candidate narrowly won.
The servers controlling the Buenos Aires mayoral vote were reportedly hacked from New Jersey and Texas.
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&tab=wT&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pagina12.com.ar%2F169078-las-maquinas-de-ibarra-haciendo-de-las-suyas
Argentine President Mauricio Macri, his former Modernization Minister, Andrés Ibarra, and the contested winner of the recent Congolese election, Félix Tshisekedi.
Tshisekedi's 3.8% margin of victory contrasts sharply with a 40%+ loss shown by leaked Congolese electoral commission data.
The electronic ballots, voting machines, and tabulation units behind the discrepancy had been originally ordered by Macri and designed for use in Argentina.
Samuel L. Jackson endorses calling Trump a 'motherf-ker'
With “great vengeance and furious anger,” Pulp Fiction actor Samuel L. Jackson endorsed newly minted Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s remark that she was going to Washington to impeach the “motherf–ker.”
“@RashidaTlaib I just wanna wholeheartedly endorse your use of & clarity of purpose when declaring your Motherf—ing goal last week,” Jackson posted on his Twitter page late Sunday.
“Calling that Muthaf–kah a Motherf–ker is not an issue, calling that Muthaf—ah President is !!!#motherf—eristoogoodtowasteonthatcankersore.”
At: https://nypost.com/2019/01/07/samuel-l-jackson-endorses-calling-trump-a-motherf-ker/
Hollywood great Samuel L. Jackson: Now it's official.
Jim Yong Kim, President of World Bank, abruptly resigns
Source: New York Times
The World Bank said on Monday that its president, Jim Yong Kim, would step down from his post in February to join a private infrastructure investment firm, an unexpected departure that comes nearly three years before the end of his term.
The abrupt resignation, effective Feb. 1, could prompt a clash between the Trump administration and other governments over the future of the international body.
The United States traditionally selects the president of the World Bank, which is made up of more than 100 countries, but Mr. Trump has taken a skeptical view about the importance of multilateral institutions.
The World Bank’s priorities — like combating climate change and engaging in foreign aid — also tend to be at odds with those of the Trump administration. Last month, the bank announced it would invest $200 billion toward fighting climate change over a five-year period.
The bank lent $64 billion to developing countries last year, a figure that included China.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/us/politics/jim-kim-world-bank-president.html
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim during his 2012 appointment by President Obama.
His proactive views on climate change and third world development projects put him at odds with Trump, who is now likely to name a Bob Zoellick-style Nazi in his place.
Argentines stage nationwide protest against new round of Macri tariff hikes
Protesters in Argentina crowded intersections around metro Buenos Aires and cities across the country Friday night to protest the latest round of utility and transport rate hikes decreed by President Mauricio Macri.
The right-wing Macri administration had announced on December 27 that authorized rates would jump on services across the board - with more hikes due later in 2019.
In Buenos Aires these will reach 33% on tollways, 35% on gas, 38% on public transport, and 55% on electricity - in a country going through its sharpest recession since the 2001-02 collapse, and with almost 50% inflation this year (the highest since 1991).
Construction fell 15.9% in November from a year ago, and manufacturing by 13.3% - the sharpest drop in the world.
Tapping in
Rates since late 2015, when Macri took office, are now up 332% for tollways; 500% for public transport; 515% for water; 2136% for electricity; and 3008% for gas.
The hikes have also drawn accusations of self-dealing against Macri, whose family are significant shareholders in Argentina's 2nd-largest electric company and its largest tollway operator.
"People need to know the motives behind this," City Legislator Leandro Santoro, a Macri opponent and academic, said.
"First, there's the IMF's demands that utility and transport subsidies end."
"Second, they want utility firms to earn even more profits than they've been doing already. This is why rates have been dollarized, while our salaries remain in (devalued) pesos."
"And third, there's inflation itself."
Overall prices have risen nearly 170% since late 2015. Real wages have meanwhile dropped by around 18%.
Macri had run largely on beating inflation - already running at 25% annually under his center-left predecessor, Cristina Kirchner.
"It's the easiest thing," he boasted during the 2015 campaign. "Inflation is a sign of government incompetence, and with us it won't be an issue."
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.diarioregistrado.com%2Fsociedad%2Fruidazo-nacional--protestas-en-todo-el-pais-contra-los-tarifazos-del-gobierno_a5c2ff316e734eb6317267f1e
Argentines protest new utility and transport rate hikes averaging around 50% - bringing total rate hikes to up to 3000% since Macri took office.
Seen here are protesters in the Buenos Aires intersection of Callao and Santa Fe Avenues - in the heart of the city's upscale Recoleta district.
Recoleta voters gave Macri 79% of their vote in 2015, and 66% in the 2017 midterms.
Watchdog group urges probe of Ivanka Trump tax break role
Source: Boston
An ethics watchdog group asked the Justice Department on Friday to investigate whether President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka violated federal conflict-of-interest law by promoting an Opportunity Zone tax break program from which she could potentially benefit.
The complaint from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington follows an Associated Press investigation last month.
The AP found that Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, both White House advisers, could benefit from the Opportunity Zones program they pushed that offers tax breaks to developers who invest in downtrodden communities.
AP reported Kushner owns a $25 million to $50 million non-management stake in Cadre, a real estate investment firm which has announced plans to invest in several cities under the Opportunity Zones program.
Separately, the couple has interests in at least 13 properties held by Kushner’s family firm that may qualify for the tax breaks because they are in Opportunity Zones in New Jersey, New York and Maryland.
Read more: https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2019/01/04/watchdog-group-urges-probe-of-ivanka-trump-tax-break-role
First Daughter Ivanka Trump: wheeling and self-dealing.
Captain and Tennille's Daryl Dragon dead at 76
Daryl “Captain” Dragon — half of the legendary 1970s pop duo Captain & Tennille — has died.
The “Love Will Keep Us Together” singer died of renal failure while in hospice in Prescott, Arizona, on Wednesday, Dragon’s rep confirms to PEOPLE. He was 76.
Dragon’s ex-wife and musical partner, Toni Tennille, was by his side at the time of his death. The pair remained close despite their separation, and Tennille, 78, recently moved to Arizona to help care for Dragon.
“He was a brilliant musician with many friends who loved him greatly. I was at my most creative in my life, when I was with him, Tennille tells PEOPLE in a statement.
In 2017, Dragon told PEOPLE that Tennille flew to his home in Arizona to be with him even after they divorced in 2014 after 39 years of marriage.
At: https://people.com/music/captain-tennille-daryl-dragon-dead/
Daryl Dragon and his then-wife, Toni Tenille, perform their trademark love song in 1979.
House leader says Democrats won't seat candidate in unresolved North Carolina race
The dissolution of North Carolina's elections board Friday injected further uncertainty into a still-undecided congressional race as a U.S. House Democratic leader rejected the idea of filling the seat until an investigation of ballot fraud allegations is complete.
Gov. Roy Cooper was met with Republican resistance after announcing he would appoint an interim Board of Elections after a three-judge state court panel ruled Thursday that the current board should disband at noon Friday.
Gov. Cooper's move would fill the gap — and allow the board to proceed with a Jan. 11 evidentiary hearing about the 9th District congressional race — until a new law governing the statewide elections panel can take effect Jan. 31.
Amid the turmoil, incoming U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer issued a statement saying House Democrats won't allow Republican Mark Harris to be sworn in next week because of the ongoing investigation.
At: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/north-carolina-election-board-disbands-without-certifying-results-9th-congressional-n952741
Partners in crime: Mark Harris (right) and his professional ballot stuffer, McCrae Dowless.
The race which put Harris ahead by 905 votes (0.3%), has not been certified by the NC State Board of Elections.
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