Killer of Sacred Cows
Thursday, December 18, 2003
AFA - Correction and Retraction
I request that you propagate this post as widely as the last one was propagated.
Sometimes, being an activist means operating on available information. And I'm as prone as the next guy to attribute really negative and sinister motives to people who don't like me. So when the AFA claimed that their poll was being intentionally skewed by a person using an automated script, I figured, "Yeah, that's what they'd say, because they don't want to believe that that many people are for gay marriage."
I'm regretting that I posted about this in the heat of the moment, now. For one thing, my personal journal is now open to the world in ways I never expected, and that does kind of shake me up. But even more, I am regretting posting in the heat of the moment because it has come to my attention that at least 2,700 of those votes which the AFA removed were, in fact, from a script -- written by someone who told me that "I dont [sic] really keep current with politics, I just saw how biased the poll was, and decided to try to help even things out."
This is why it's so very important to keep current with politics, folks. A stunt like this one destroys credibility.
I admit, too, that I asked friends on my LJ to use mailinator.com for email addresses and to use false names, if they didn't feel comfortable giving the AFA their personal information, since any group will often harvest emails for later spam purposes. But I see a sizeable distinction between using a mailinator.com address (which is, in fact, a valid email address) or a pseudonym, or both, and using an automated script to skew a poll with hundreds of truly fraudulent, not-supported-by-a-real-person votes.
The young man who did the votebombing, Steve, confessed here. The text of his confession is below.
This is a screenshot of the program he wrote and used:
I want, at this time, to apologize to the AFA for doubting them, and to the online community for misrepresenting what I thought at the time to be actual bias on the part of the AFA.
If there is anyone else out there who wrote a script to votebomb the AFA's poll, it would be a lot better if you came forward and confessed. I'm glad that the AFA's poll shows about a fifty-fifty split between yeas and nays, but it would help if we knew -- if we all knew -- that the numbers were, in fact, a valid representation of the true feelings of the entire online community.
Moral of this story: When you find out that you've screwed up, the best thing to do is admit it. Anything less destroys credibility, and that's a commodity you can't buy. If you find that you've acted less than credibly, less than honestly, the best thing to do is come forward, be honest about it, and take your lumps. As I said to Steve when he confessed to me tonight, some of it will stick to you regardless, but avoiding the truth only means you get in deeper and deeper.
I know that the AFA deleted about 3,000 votes two times. I only have screenshots for one of them, and Steve insists that his script only produced about 2,700 fraudulent votes, so his script only accounts for half of the deletions that were made. If the AFA would show their raw data in good faith, that would be a step in the right direction. ¶ 12/18/2003 10:16:00 PM 0 comments
Sometimes, being an activist means operating on available information. And I'm as prone as the next guy to attribute really negative and sinister motives to people who don't like me. So when the AFA claimed that their poll was being intentionally skewed by a person using an automated script, I figured, "Yeah, that's what they'd say, because they don't want to believe that that many people are for gay marriage."
I'm regretting that I posted about this in the heat of the moment, now. For one thing, my personal journal is now open to the world in ways I never expected, and that does kind of shake me up. But even more, I am regretting posting in the heat of the moment because it has come to my attention that at least 2,700 of those votes which the AFA removed were, in fact, from a script -- written by someone who told me that "I dont [sic] really keep current with politics, I just saw how biased the poll was, and decided to try to help even things out."
This is why it's so very important to keep current with politics, folks. A stunt like this one destroys credibility.
I admit, too, that I asked friends on my LJ to use mailinator.com for email addresses and to use false names, if they didn't feel comfortable giving the AFA their personal information, since any group will often harvest emails for later spam purposes. But I see a sizeable distinction between using a mailinator.com address (which is, in fact, a valid email address) or a pseudonym, or both, and using an automated script to skew a poll with hundreds of truly fraudulent, not-supported-by-a-real-person votes.
The young man who did the votebombing, Steve, confessed here. The text of his confession is below.
I am writing this to claim responsibility for writing a program that has caused a lot of controversy and anger between voters of "American Family Association"'s Online Marriage Poll.
On Dec. 12 of 2003, I wrote a small program that generated about 2700 false votes for the "pro-homosexual marriage" option of their web poll. I truly did not understand the repercussions that my program would have, and I am very deeply sorry for the trouble I have caused to AFA, to the GLBT community, and their respective supporters. I simply felt that a biased online poll on a website of Christian Fundamentalists that was to be sent to Congress as a representation of all America should at least have a voice from those who did not agree with them. Fraudulently posting votes was not the right way to do this, and once again I apologize.
At the time I wrote the program, there were about 82.4k votes against gay marriage or civil unions, 4k opting for legalization, and 2.1k for civil unions. It is my personal opinion that governments, and religious groups, should not interfere with consenting adults, no matter their personal opinion.
This is a screenshot of the program he wrote and used:
I want, at this time, to apologize to the AFA for doubting them, and to the online community for misrepresenting what I thought at the time to be actual bias on the part of the AFA.
If there is anyone else out there who wrote a script to votebomb the AFA's poll, it would be a lot better if you came forward and confessed. I'm glad that the AFA's poll shows about a fifty-fifty split between yeas and nays, but it would help if we knew -- if we all knew -- that the numbers were, in fact, a valid representation of the true feelings of the entire online community.
Moral of this story: When you find out that you've screwed up, the best thing to do is admit it. Anything less destroys credibility, and that's a commodity you can't buy. If you find that you've acted less than credibly, less than honestly, the best thing to do is come forward, be honest about it, and take your lumps. As I said to Steve when he confessed to me tonight, some of it will stick to you regardless, but avoiding the truth only means you get in deeper and deeper.
I know that the AFA deleted about 3,000 votes two times. I only have screenshots for one of them, and Steve insists that his script only produced about 2,700 fraudulent votes, so his script only accounts for half of the deletions that were made. If the AFA would show their raw data in good faith, that would be a step in the right direction. ¶ 12/18/2003 10:16:00 PM 0 comments
Good news for the guys in Gitmo
We simply cannot accept the government's position that the executive branch possesses the unchecked authority to imprison indefinitely any persons, foreign citizens included, on territory under the sole jurisdiction and control of the United States without permitting such prisoners recourse of any kind to any judicial forum, or even access to counsel, regardless of the length or manner of their confinement," Reinhardt wrote.
It's about damned time that the courts stopped the juggernaut of the Bush Administration and its ham-handed good ol' boy policies dead in its tracks. Note to Mr. Bush & Co: "He needed killin'" isn't accepted as a defense anymore. ¶ 12/18/2003 08:15:00 PM 0 comments
It's about damned time that the courts stopped the juggernaut of the Bush Administration and its ham-handed good ol' boy policies dead in its tracks. Note to Mr. Bush & Co: "He needed killin'" isn't accepted as a defense anymore. ¶ 12/18/2003 08:15:00 PM 0 comments
Updates on the AFA
This time I was able to capture timestamps.
The numbers speak for themselves, folks.
I wonder if they're going to figure out that they're losing.
¶ 12/18/2003 01:11:00 PM 0 comments
The numbers speak for themselves, folks.
I wonder if they're going to figure out that they're losing.
¶ 12/18/2003 01:11:00 PM 0 comments
Trying again. Eventually, this will work. (Can you tell that new software is not high on my list of Fun Stuff To Do?)
¶ 12/18/2003 01:04:00 PM 0 comments
On the AFA news front, someone has written a script that polls the AFA "marriage poll" site and records the results every five minutes.
Here's the script.
Obviously the AFA is not getting the results they wanted. ¶ 12/18/2003 12:42:00 PM 0 comments
Here's the script.
Obviously the AFA is not getting the results they wanted. ¶ 12/18/2003 12:42:00 PM 0 comments
Just testing to see if comments are possible. Still learning how to use this blogging software.
¶ 12/18/2003 12:29:00 PM 0 comments
This is copied from my original home blog, and the post was made yesterday, in Pacific Standard Time. It's the reason that I chose to set up a new blog just for my activism here on BlogSpot.
Well, the AFA either got wise to the fact that their poll wasn't working out as planned, took their ball and went home, or else they were Googlebombed, as I saw happening in other journals on my friends page.
Either way, I can't connect to www.afa.net or www.marriagepoll.com. My connection is refused.
Final score is behind the cut tag. In one day, our activism changed their numbers from 3% for gay marriage to more than 16%.
So sorry, American "Family" Association. We're not all stupid sheep. And you will not be able to pull that kind of trick on the American people.
Screen shot taken at 10:57 AM PST:
UPDATE!
They are removing 3,000 votes at a time! I was just able to get to their site again, and gee! Look at the new poll!
Ladies and gentlemen -- the magical disappearing poll numbers! Maybe they're using the Diebold system!"
Screen Shot taken at 11:22 AM PST:
Screenshot taken at 11:46 AM PST:
Screenshot taken at 12:10 PM PST:
Screenshot taken at 12:35 PM PST:
Screenshot taken at 1:52 PM PST:
Screenshot taken at 2:18 PM PST:
Screenshot taken at 3:00 PM PST:
Later that day, at about 3:22 PM PST, I was informed that the AFA had been asked, via email, about the mysterious disappearing 3,000 votes (something that happened twice, but I only have one screenshot of), and here's part of my post from then:
Apparently the AFA has been tipped off by email that their deception was uncovered. They claim that a "pro-homosexual" person programmed an automated responder to their poll.
I doubt that. I'd like to see proof. However, since they now know that people are watching, they may remain slightly more honest.
Of course, since they either don't give a damn or don't have a clue what honest polling consists of, as evidenced by this article, I doubt that they'll remain honest unless they're closely watched.
So keep watching. ¶ 12/18/2003 11:44:00 AM 0 comments
Well, the AFA either got wise to the fact that their poll wasn't working out as planned, took their ball and went home, or else they were Googlebombed, as I saw happening in other journals on my friends page.
Either way, I can't connect to www.afa.net or www.marriagepoll.com. My connection is refused.
Final score is behind the cut tag. In one day, our activism changed their numbers from 3% for gay marriage to more than 16%.
So sorry, American "Family" Association. We're not all stupid sheep. And you will not be able to pull that kind of trick on the American people.
Screen shot taken at 10:57 AM PST:
UPDATE!
They are removing 3,000 votes at a time! I was just able to get to their site again, and gee! Look at the new poll!
Ladies and gentlemen -- the magical disappearing poll numbers! Maybe they're using the Diebold system!"
Screen Shot taken at 11:22 AM PST:
Screenshot taken at 11:46 AM PST:
Screenshot taken at 12:10 PM PST:
Screenshot taken at 12:35 PM PST:
Screenshot taken at 1:52 PM PST:
Screenshot taken at 2:18 PM PST:
Screenshot taken at 3:00 PM PST:
Later that day, at about 3:22 PM PST, I was informed that the AFA had been asked, via email, about the mysterious disappearing 3,000 votes (something that happened twice, but I only have one screenshot of), and here's part of my post from then:
Apparently the AFA has been tipped off by email that their deception was uncovered. They claim that a "pro-homosexual" person programmed an automated responder to their poll.
I doubt that. I'd like to see proof. However, since they now know that people are watching, they may remain slightly more honest.
Of course, since they either don't give a damn or don't have a clue what honest polling consists of, as evidenced by this article, I doubt that they'll remain honest unless they're closely watched.
So keep watching. ¶ 12/18/2003 11:44:00 AM 0 comments
