American woman killed in Baghdad attack
The victim helped train Iraqi political parties. Three security guards also are slain in the ambush.

BAGHDAD -- An American woman working for a U.S. nonprofit organization in Iraq to help strengthen the fledgling government was among four people killed Wednesday in a roadside ambush.

The woman, whose name was withheld pending notification of her family, worked for the National Democratic Institute, a Washington organization that advises political parties around the world.

Les Campbell, director of the group's operations in the Middle East and North Africa, said the three other people killed -- a Hungarian, a Croat and an Iraqi -- were bodyguards from the private security firm Unity Resources Group.

non sequitur (noun) -- 1. a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. 2. a kick-ass comic strip by Wiley Miller

Backdoor found in Diebold voting machines
By Robert McMillan

Diebold Election Systems plans to make changes to its electronic voting machines, following the disclosure of a number of serious security flaws in the systems.

On Thursday, the voting watchdog organisation Black Box Voting published a report (PDF) detailing how Diebold's TS6 and TSx touch-pad voting machines could be compromised by taking advantage of "backdoor" features designed to allow new software to be installed on the systems.

Finnish security researcher Harri Hursti, discovered backdoors in the boot loader software, in the OS, and in the Ballot Station software that it runs to tabulate votes.

Rear-access technology

"These are built-in features, all three of them," said Black Box Voting Founder Bev Harris. If a malicious person had access to a Diebold machine, the back doors could be exploited to falsify election results on the system, she said.

A Diebold spokesman did not dispute Hursti's findings, but said that Black Box Voting was making too much of the matter because the systems are intended to remain in the hands of trusted election officials.

"What they're proposing as a vulnerability is actually a functionality of the system," said spokesman David Bear. "Instead of recognising the advantages of the technology, we keep ringing up 'what if' scenarios that serve no purpose other than to confuse and in some instances frighten voters."

 SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- San Jose Sharks fans loudly booed the Canadian national anthem Sunday night before Game 5 of their team's second-round playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers.

The vociferous booing started from the opening notes of singer Annmarie Martin's rendition of O Canada. While other fans attempted to drown it out by singing along, the boos were audible until the final notes.

Give the nod to Pombo challengers
REPUBLICAN MCCLOSKEY, DEMOCRAT MCNERNEY WOULD BE WORTHY COMPETITORS IN THE FALL

Even before he became associated with the sleaze surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, even before he was accused of taking a family vacation on the government's dime and even before a watchdog group called him one of the 13 most corrupt members of Congress, it was clear that Richard Pombo had to go.

The conservative seven-term Republican congressman from Tracy has a record of radical anti-environmentalism that has imperiled the nation's natural resources, is wrong for the country and is out of step with a state that's known for its environmental leadership.

Fortunately, Pombo's record may be catching up with him. He faces serious challenges to his re-election from both sides of the aisle in a race that has drawn national attention. His 11th Congressional District reaches from Lodi in the north to Morgan Hill in the south and Danville in the east.

Santorum was another of those big spenders, $2.06M, while Casey was one of the top non-incumbent fundraisers for the period, with $2.17M. Santorum's war chest is huge, $9M. Casey's is more than respectable at $4.5. Rasmussen's funky poll with the NOW question was reported around the blogosphere quite a bit earlier this month. It found a 9 point lead for Casey in a head-to-head match with Santorum, but that support slipping when Casey's anti-choice views were explained. It's a screwy poll--erosion of support to Casey makes sense, but why would half of them switch to Santorum? Could it be that that large a chunk of PA's population isn't aware that Santorum is anti-choice? Anyway, this one is tightening up. Unless a fundraising fairy-godmother waves her magic wand for Sandals or Pennachio, they don't have a hope.