today's appalling news

I'm trying to keep a record of all the news items each day that I run across that I find absolutely appalling. Either because they individually make me want to stick a fork in my eye, or because taken together they provide a panoramic snapshot of our daily descent into "the government formerly known as democracy".
 
It's hard to know how best to record these, since some of these sites require registration, and for others, in 2 weeks, many of these news items will be archived and available only for a fee, so I'm going to try a few ways of documenting abstracts without taking away from the impact of the big picture.
 
Why do I try to explain these things in so much detail? I don't know. Screw it. I'm doing it this way now. If I change it, just follow along.
 
Computer glitches lost voting data
Lost Record of Vote in '02 Florida Race Raises '04 Concern - MIAMI, July 27 - Almost all the electronic records from the first widespread use of touch-screen voting in Miami-Dade County have been lost, stoking concerns that the machines are unreliable as the presidential election draws near.

The records disappeared after two computer system crashes last year, county elections officials said, leaving no audit trail for the 2002 gubernatorial primary. A citizens group uncovered the loss this month after requesting all audit data from that election. 

Similarly:
Fear of Fraud - Paul Krugman - NYT
It's election night, and early returns suggest trouble for the incumbent. Then, mysteriously, the vote count stops and observers from the challenger's campaign see employees of a voting-machine company, one wearing a badge that identifies him as a county official, typing instructions at computers with access to the vote-tabulating software.

When the count resumes, the incumbent pulls ahead. The challenger demands an investigation. But there are no ballots to recount, and election officials allied with the incumbent refuse to release data that could shed light on whether there was tampering with the electronic records.

This isn't a paranoid fantasy. It's a true account of a recent election in Riverside County, Calif., reported by Andrew Gumbel of the British newspaper The Independent.

White House to Project Record Deficit - By ALAN FRAM Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — The White House will project soon that this year's federal deficit will exceed $420 billion, congressional aides said, a record figure certain to ignite partisan warfare over President Bush's handling of the economy.
 
FORK Husband walks in on 9/11 scam of 'widow,' cops say - ROCKFORD, Mich. -- A woman who collected more than $70,000 from the Red Cross after claiming her still-living husband died in the Sept. 11 attacks has been accused of fraud, authorities said.

The scam fell apart when Donna Miller's husband walked in while a detective was interviewing her at home, authorities said. Miller, 49, of Sparta, was charged Thursday with three felony counts of false pretense and released on $10,000 bond.

FORK Subway ad riles DeLay - Legislator says fat Lady Liberty shown in Germany is un-American
[ed. note - Get over it Tom. Would we like to make the Patriot Act now apply to German advertising?]