WE GIVE THE WAPO’S GLENN KESSLER FOUR PINOCCHIOS FOR THIS 100% FALSE TWEET ON DONALD TRUMP:

THINGS THE MAINSTREAM PRESS WOULD SAY BEFORE THE ELECTION THAT IT WON’T SAY NOW: Will your ballot be safe? Computer experts sound warnings on America’s voting machines.

Toyed with by white-hat hackers and targeted for scathing reviews from secretaries of state in California and Ohio, Direct Recording Electronic voting systems, or DREs, have startled Illinois voters by flashing the word “Republican” at the top of a ballot and forgotten what day it was in South Carolina. They were questioned in the disappearance of 12,000 votes in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, in 2002 and 18,000 votes in Sarasota County, Florida, in 2006.

“Antiquated, seriously flawed and vulnerable to failure, breach, contamination and attack,” U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg wrote of Georgia’s aging DRE system before ordering the state to replace it in 2019. . . .

New technology also has its share of criticism. Internet voting has been roundly panned by computer experts citing wide-open opportunities for hacking. Georgia’s replacement system for DREs had been rejected by Texas and is the subject of a court battle over accuracy. . . .

All election systems are for the most part black boxes: proprietary software and hardware jealously guarded by the handful of companies selling them. But state reviews and court cases opening up DRE systems of all makes and models for examination have for years flagged problems.

In New Jersey in 2008, Princeton computer scientist Andrew Appel and a five-member team got a rare look under the hood of an AVC Advantage DRE, part of a lawsuit alleging DREs could not reliably count votes. . . .

Among the findings: The system sometimes only seemed to record a vote. It sometimes did record a vote but seemed not to. It would take one screwdriver and seven minutes to insert a vote-stealing program. That kind of hack would probably be invisible, Appel concluded.

More than a decade later, Appel is still talking about DRE vulnerabilities. And although the New Jersey governor, citing COVID-19, has created a nearly all-mail election, 19 New Jersey counties still have their DRE equipment on hand for the next contest, according to state records.

Nationally, if the surge in absentee ballots has not decreased in-person voting, more than 14 million registered voters would be going Tuesday to polls that are equipped with DREs.

“The whole community of computer scientists is mystified why election officials will not listen to experts about technology but will listen to the vendors (selling and maintaining it),” said Duncan Buell, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of South Carolina who examined that state’s system. . . .

“The real problem with DREs is that you cannot recover (vote results), even if you are lucky enough to detect that there is an error or it has been tampered with,” said Marian Schneider, former president of Verified Voting.

But now, you know, even mentioning these concerns makes you a “conspiracy theorist.”

SUING BLOGS SELDOM WORKS OUT WELL: The statements about former law student Jonathan Mullane were either fair report of court proceedings or constitutionally protected opinions (e.g., calling Mullane “‘rude,’ ‘dumb,’ ‘unethical,’ a ‘little entitled ponce,’ and a ‘dauphin'”).

Though suits against Elie Mystal should probably start with a presumption of actual malice.

FIGHT THE POWER: Trump stages GOP comeback at CPAC by refusing to concede 2020 defeat.

50 YEARS OF SOCIAL DECAY IN A SINGLE IMAGE:

THINGS ARE GETTING HOTTER IN ALBANY: Cuomo staff accused of ‘incessant bullying,’ ‘constant threats,’ local TV reporter claims.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Trump: I’m Not Starting A New Party. I’m Still Running This Party.

OPEN THREAD: It’s here for you.

SPACE: India launches Brazil’s Amazonia-1 Earth observation satellite and 18 others into orbit.

MARK JUDGE: I Knew The Name of the Dragon.

FASTER, PLEASE: Discovery offers potential for stripping tumors of T cell protection.

OK, BOOMER: “I dare you to name something more archetypally boomer than these two cherished idols—the Boss and the Chief—dubbing themselves rebellious in a Spotify-exclusive podcast… sponsored by Comcast and Dollar Shave Club.”

ANOTHER BIG-TECH CENSORSHIP FAIL: Scientists are urging Americans to upgrade their face coverings. But Amazon, Google and Facebook restrict the sale of medical-grade masks. Critics say the rules are outdated. “These companies have such a monopoly that you really can’t be in business without them.”

Plus: “Mr. Castle’s experiences with Facebook echoed those of other small mask producers who have recently began making N95s and other medical grade masks. Largely shut out by hospital networks, they had hoped to sell their high-filtration products online, where Americans do much of their shopping. But the tech giants have not made it easy, even as scientists have urged people to upgrade their face coverings to those that can block the tiny pathogens that cause infection.”

As I keep saying, break them up.

#WOKEFAIL: Hasbro Reverses Decision: Mr. Potato Head Will Remain.

NOT ALL THEY’RE CRACKED UP TO BE: Here’s What You Need to Know about Those Million-Mile New Car Warranties.

WHO’S WHO OF THE LEFT’S 2020 ELECTION CONSPIRACY: Capital Research Center (CRC) has a comprehensive listing, rich with details and definitely worth keeping for future reference.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to be a precision shooter.

TESTING HAS BEEN REPLACED BY VACCINATION: Plunging demand for COVID-19 tests may leave US exposed. I’m lukewarm on the utility of testing anyway. The disease has spread so widely that contact-tracing is largely useless, and the tests are only moderately reliable anyway.

Plus: “From a public health viewpoint, testing is effective if it helps to quickly find the infected, trace their contacts and isolate them to stop the spread. In most parts of the U.S., that never happened. Over the holiday season, many Americans still had to wait days to receive test results, rendering them largely useless. That’s led to testing fatigue and dwindling interest, said Dr. Michael Mina of Harvard University.”

WATCH LIVE: Former President Donald Trump Speaks at CPAC.

SUDDENLY, IT’S OKAY TO NOTICE THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS AND WORSE: The Twilight of the Anti-Trump Idols: From Andrew Cuomo’s scandals to the European vaccine disaster, after Trump the failures of his foils have been laid bare. But as usual, Ross Douthat only gets halfway to the truth.

SPACE: Orbital Assembly Corp. hits $1M fundraising goal, aims to have luxury space hotel open in 2027.

THINGS ARE HEATING UP IN ALBANY: Cuomo’s office turns over sexual harassment investigation after Democrats question independence.

I DON’T EVEN TRUST BIG MOUTH BILLY BASS: Meet Catfish Charlie, the CIA’s Robotic Spy.

I’M HOPING FOR A BIG COMEBACK: Will Tiger Woods Play Golf Again? Doctors Predict a Difficult Recovery.

KEEP PORTLAND RIOTOUS: Hellhole Portland: Defunded Police Were Too Busy With Shootings to Stop Antifa Rioters.