Slot machines vs. voting machines (Washington Post)

[JackRiddler]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/03/16/GR2006031600213.html

How To Steal an Election

It's easier to rig an electronic voting machine than a Las Vegas slot machine, says University of Pennsylvania visiting professor Steve Freeman. That's because Vegas slots are better monitored and regulated than America's voting machines, Freeman writes in a book out in July that argues, among other things, that President Bush may owe his 2004 win to an unfair vote count. We'll wait to read his book before making a judgment about that. But Freeman has assembled comparisons that suggest Americans protect their vices more than they guard their rights, according to data he presented at an October meeting of the American Statistical Association in Philadelphia.

[xfundy]

1. At least I won some money in Reno

Meanwhile, * and company "won" the only way they can--by CHEATING.

[JackRiddler]

2. kick for readers

[DCKit]

3. Shhhhhhhh. Everyone knows the slots are rigged, but we don't talk about it.

Do you want to cast a pall over Vegas and Ocean City? Do you want to end Democracy by impinging on the credibility of our gambling Meccas?

BTW, what do the unimpeachable voting machines have to do with your story?

[JackRiddler]

4. Not my story, of course, it's a graphic from WaPo...

The slot machines are rigged in an open fashion. Anyone who plays them can easily know - should know - that they're programmed to guarantee that at volume, the house will take in far more than pays out. So if you keep plugging in the coins (or leave your plastic in the slot!), you lose. But that's not a secret. People have the choice of whether they're going to be suckers.

Not so with the voting machines and their secret software, obviously.

[unblock]

7. why "rig" slot machines?

there's a built-in tilt of somewhere around 6% in favor of the house. why rig when the fix is already in?

[williesgirl]

5. Congress will NEVER address this issue. Soooo Sad. rec'd

[Pooka Fey]

6. K&R

[SalviaBlue]

8. Sickening ... rec

[samspade.]

9. Wow. I guess we know what's important.

Sam

[Stevepol]

10. Looking forward to buying and reading Steve's new book

and would warmly encourage all others to do the same. Steve is one of a small army of dedicated patriots who are trying to restore democracy to this country and he along with the others deserve our prayers and our support in whatever way possible.

[JackRiddler]

11. and a half-cheer at best for the Washington Post...

gradually reporting on, in a light and probably ineffective way, a small piece of the election fraud that's come to predominate in the last eight years!