Monday, November 29, 2004
Hitler and Bush comparisons
My comment, from the Dailykos, in response to this:
Hitler killed millions in Europe...Bush has killed tens of thousands in Iraq. The comparisons between the two have nothing to do with numbers alone. In that regard, Hitler trumps all fascist dictators. No argument.
But there is an argument that Bush is leading us down the path to a totalitarian state, with his current philosophy and policies, not the least of which is the trumped up nationalism at several decibals too high.
The loyalty oaths, the quashing of dissent, the attacks on our right to vote (evidenced the Ohio hearings),the economic de-struction of the middle class, attacks on social security are next...
I'm not crying tears for all of this...at the moment...though I've shed a few over images in Iraq. I'm feeling a bit queasy though...in that anxious, uneasy "what does the future hold" kind of way.
The fear is, that the killing will go on...and we will find new reasons to attack other nations. There is evidence of this in our national media.
If it were ever about degree, the Hitler comparisons would have never been made.
And let us remember the one great lesson of Hitler:
We ignore millennia of history demonstrating that powerpaths will pursue whatever schemes necessary to maintain power. Indeed, they typically usurp power incrementally, pushing the envelope and testing the boundaries. As George Soros has observed, when those boundary tests are successfully passed, the dominant paradigm (and associated behavior) is further reinforced and perpetuated.
Bush is pushing the envelope right now, further and further...
to·tal·i·tar·i·an ( P ) Pronunciation Key (t-tl-târ-n)adj. Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed: "A totalitarian regime crushes all autonomous institutions in its drive to seize the human soul" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).
Hitler killed millions in Europe...Bush has killed tens of thousands in Iraq. The comparisons between the two have nothing to do with numbers alone. In that regard, Hitler trumps all fascist dictators. No argument.
But there is an argument that Bush is leading us down the path to a totalitarian state, with his current philosophy and policies, not the least of which is the trumped up nationalism at several decibals too high.
The loyalty oaths, the quashing of dissent, the attacks on our right to vote (evidenced the Ohio hearings),the economic de-struction of the middle class, attacks on social security are next...
I'm not crying tears for all of this...at the moment...though I've shed a few over images in Iraq. I'm feeling a bit queasy though...in that anxious, uneasy "what does the future hold" kind of way.
The fear is, that the killing will go on...and we will find new reasons to attack other nations. There is evidence of this in our national media.
If it were ever about degree, the Hitler comparisons would have never been made.
And let us remember the one great lesson of Hitler:
We ignore millennia of history demonstrating that powerpaths will pursue whatever schemes necessary to maintain power. Indeed, they typically usurp power incrementally, pushing the envelope and testing the boundaries. As George Soros has observed, when those boundary tests are successfully passed, the dominant paradigm (and associated behavior) is further reinforced and perpetuated.
Bush is pushing the envelope right now, further and further...
to·tal·i·tar·i·an ( P ) Pronunciation Key (t-tl-târ-n)adj. Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed: "A totalitarian regime crushes all autonomous institutions in its drive to seize the human soul" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:14 AM |
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Pushing the Envelope
It's time for progressives to push the envelope for our issues, instead of having it pushed at us:
Progressives should take note and take heart from the actions of the Ukrainians. Over 50 million Americans opposed Bush at the polls. It's not necessary to stage a March on Washington tomorrow in order to make a contribution. We can initiate or join any number of efforts, from local to national, forming coalitions, pooling money and human resources toward legal challenges on every level. We can donate or get involved in organizations like blackboxvoting.org. We can inundate Congress with demands for investigations. We can pressure news media to stop marginalizing election reform efforts by telling us to move on. We can educate the general public about what's at stake and what they can do about it. We can (and must) launch relentless, full-scale, legal assaults on the usurpation of our voting systems by unscrupulous corporations and upon the flagrant conflicts of interest presented by secretaries of state working for the campaigns of candidates who are running in the elections they oversee. Proprietary trade secrets of Diebold and ES&S must be smashed in the courts and the legislatures lest democracy be smashed in the wake of the incestuous marriage of right-wing government and corporate power. Meanwhile we must remember that the movement is not for or about John Kerry. Its purpose is to demonstrate to the powerpaths who continue wresting away control of our country that they will be relentlessly challenged. Progressive Americans must, at a minimum, demand uncompromising reforms to our electoral system before it becomes irrelevant. It would be an abandonment of principles and duties to country if we didn't. Indeed, it would be unpatriotic.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
James A. Nickel is a psychologist, social scientist, writer and founder of SolutionSociety.org. He may be contacted at jimnickel@solutionsociety.org.
Progressives should take note and take heart from the actions of the Ukrainians. Over 50 million Americans opposed Bush at the polls. It's not necessary to stage a March on Washington tomorrow in order to make a contribution. We can initiate or join any number of efforts, from local to national, forming coalitions, pooling money and human resources toward legal challenges on every level. We can donate or get involved in organizations like blackboxvoting.org. We can inundate Congress with demands for investigations. We can pressure news media to stop marginalizing election reform efforts by telling us to move on. We can educate the general public about what's at stake and what they can do about it. We can (and must) launch relentless, full-scale, legal assaults on the usurpation of our voting systems by unscrupulous corporations and upon the flagrant conflicts of interest presented by secretaries of state working for the campaigns of candidates who are running in the elections they oversee. Proprietary trade secrets of Diebold and ES&S must be smashed in the courts and the legislatures lest democracy be smashed in the wake of the incestuous marriage of right-wing government and corporate power. Meanwhile we must remember that the movement is not for or about John Kerry. Its purpose is to demonstrate to the powerpaths who continue wresting away control of our country that they will be relentlessly challenged. Progressive Americans must, at a minimum, demand uncompromising reforms to our electoral system before it becomes irrelevant. It would be an abandonment of principles and duties to country if we didn't. Indeed, it would be unpatriotic.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
James A. Nickel is a psychologist, social scientist, writer and founder of SolutionSociety.org. He may be contacted at jimnickel@solutionsociety.org.
# posted by scorpiorising : 1:48 PM |
Take with a grain of salt.
Take the Wayne Madsen articles I posted below with a huge grain of salt, until further proof emerges.
# posted by scorpiorising : 1:46 PM |
More on How the Vote was Rigged
More on the buying of electoral fraud by the Bush campaign
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
November 26, 2004—Additional information on the buying of vote riggers with Saudi and former Enron funds has been obtained. The epicenter for the vote rigging operation is Dallas, Texas, and the operation may involve retired FBI agents who used a well-established "good ole boy" network to arrange for access to polling precincts by electronic voting machine technicians who took advantage of various November 2 security "lockdowns" to illegally alter the tabulation of votes in favor of Bush. Some of the retired agents may have used courtesy credentials issued upon retirement to fool unsuspecting polling place workers.
The cost of the operation was estimated at $29 million with the money sent via a circuitous network of offshore trust companies and shell activities. This reporter has obtained a copy of a bank check for $29,600,000 that was allegedly sent to cover the cost of the Texas-based vote rigging operation. The check is dated October 22, 2004, and was made payable to "Five Star Investment Ltd.," a trust said to have long connections to Saudi-funded operations in Texas and around the world. The payer is identified as "Equity Financial Trust," a Houston-based "brass plate" and post office box entity tied to offshore Cook Islands "folding tent" accounts used to hide away profits amassed by the former Enron as well as Saudi financiers.
On October 6, 2004, some two weeks before Equity Financial Trust transferred the money to Five Star Investment Ltd., the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions for Canada listed Equity Financial Trust, along with Bankers Financial and Security Trust, Falcon Financial and Trust, and Unity Virtual Trust Group as "unauthorized financial institutions." In fact, the check for $29.6 million, which is marked "Not to exceed fifty million dollars," is drawn on the Laurentian Bank of Canada's Toronto branch. Its serial number is 317675450 3 and the bank number is 23-97/1020. The bank instrument is issued by Integrated Payment Systems, Inc. of Englewood, Colorado, and Bank One, NA, Denver, Colorado.
It is noteworthy that a number of companies operated by past Bush campaign contributor Pierre Falcone, under criminal investigation in France for weapons smuggling in Angola, are called "Falcon." Several non-governmental organizations, including Global Witness, have tied Falcone to questionable Halliburton activities when Vice President Dick Cheney headed the firm.
Some of the vote riggers who were guaranteed a minimum payment for their services have started talking about the operation because they did not receive the money they were promised.
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist, author and syndicated columnist who previously served in the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration. He concentrates on national security and intelligence issues.
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
November 26, 2004—Additional information on the buying of vote riggers with Saudi and former Enron funds has been obtained. The epicenter for the vote rigging operation is Dallas, Texas, and the operation may involve retired FBI agents who used a well-established "good ole boy" network to arrange for access to polling precincts by electronic voting machine technicians who took advantage of various November 2 security "lockdowns" to illegally alter the tabulation of votes in favor of Bush. Some of the retired agents may have used courtesy credentials issued upon retirement to fool unsuspecting polling place workers.
The cost of the operation was estimated at $29 million with the money sent via a circuitous network of offshore trust companies and shell activities. This reporter has obtained a copy of a bank check for $29,600,000 that was allegedly sent to cover the cost of the Texas-based vote rigging operation. The check is dated October 22, 2004, and was made payable to "Five Star Investment Ltd.," a trust said to have long connections to Saudi-funded operations in Texas and around the world. The payer is identified as "Equity Financial Trust," a Houston-based "brass plate" and post office box entity tied to offshore Cook Islands "folding tent" accounts used to hide away profits amassed by the former Enron as well as Saudi financiers.
On October 6, 2004, some two weeks before Equity Financial Trust transferred the money to Five Star Investment Ltd., the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions for Canada listed Equity Financial Trust, along with Bankers Financial and Security Trust, Falcon Financial and Trust, and Unity Virtual Trust Group as "unauthorized financial institutions." In fact, the check for $29.6 million, which is marked "Not to exceed fifty million dollars," is drawn on the Laurentian Bank of Canada's Toronto branch. Its serial number is 317675450 3 and the bank number is 23-97/1020. The bank instrument is issued by Integrated Payment Systems, Inc. of Englewood, Colorado, and Bank One, NA, Denver, Colorado.
It is noteworthy that a number of companies operated by past Bush campaign contributor Pierre Falcone, under criminal investigation in France for weapons smuggling in Angola, are called "Falcon." Several non-governmental organizations, including Global Witness, have tied Falcone to questionable Halliburton activities when Vice President Dick Cheney headed the firm.
Some of the vote riggers who were guaranteed a minimum payment for their services have started talking about the operation because they did not receive the money they were promised.
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist, author and syndicated columnist who previously served in the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration. He concentrates on national security and intelligence issues.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:34 AM |
Friday, November 26, 2004
protest for reform of election process
We need more of this...but we need more of it for different reasons as well. I didn't watch the Frontline special on credit cards the other night, but I've heard horror stories from friends. I have this belief, that if enough people cut up their credit cards, then the real revolution would begin. But refusing to charge for the Christman holidays will not only help your finances, it's a good way to protest the lack of fair elections. From Atrios today:
All I Want for Xmas Is Fair and Verifiable Elections So it’s black Friday, the day when retailers plan on making really big bucks selling people Xmas presents. Lately, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about our consumerist society and wondering to what extent the pervasive nature of consumerism may have influenced the recent election. Clearly, the fact that the news is now simply a way to sell product has harmed our society and, as Jon Stewart so eloquently explained to Tucker Carlson, the pitch to the lowest common denominator, where even political discourse is sold as a form of TV wrestling, has hurt America. Even war is sold to Americans as a product and, if the ad campaign constantly changes with new and different rationales for why we should buy this product, well, we’re all used to that from frequently-changing commercials for everything from heartburn medicine to SUVs. Do Americans really need or even want all the crap that they’ll buy over the next few weeks?I’ve also been thinking about the role of protests in a situation such as the current one in America. I grew up on protest marches; my dad took me to some of the great Viet Nam war protests and just this past April I marched with friends and family in the March for Women’s Lives. Watching what’s been happening in Ukraine, I wonder why Americans haven’t taken to the streets, as well. And yet, I wonder if large protests are still effective in America. The March for Women’s Lives was huge -- over a million people. The protests at the Republican convention in NYC this summer were huge, too. Both got a fair amount of news coverage. Neither seemed to help -- Roe’s dead within the next year and Lame Duckie has proclaimed himself the winner of the election. Finally, I doubt Lame Duckie will allow much of any protest at his coronation -- protestors will be kept out for "security" reasons. If he didn’t need to allow protestors in when he was ostensibly running for re-election, he sure doesn’t need to allow them now.So, if there’s a big protest march, I’ll be there, just because I like to put my body where it may do some good and be counted. But I also think we need to consider other ways to make our displeasure known. And that’s where economics come in.I don’t know for sure if this last election was stolen, although I know what my gut tells me. This study certainly gives me pause. However, the point of this thread isn’t to restart the why-did-Kerry-concede-why-isn’t-Atrios-screaming-about-Diebold debate. Here’s what I do know for sure and think everyone can agree upon: it’s important for all Americans, including those whose candidate didn’t prevail, to be able to have faith that our elections are carried out fairly and honestly. And the current situation doesn’t allow us to have that faith. Instead, what we have is a patchwork of fallible systems that appears designed more for the purpose of allowing skullduggery than for the purpose of ensuring fair elections. And that, I believe, is worth an economic protest.This year, I’m urging everyone I know to refuse to spend money for Xmas as a protest. Stay out of the stores. For Goddess sake, don’t run up credit card debt. Give your family and friends the gift of your time and attention rather than a new sweater that they won’t wear or some object to clutter-up an already over-cluttered life. But just not buying isn’t enough. You’ve got to contact the retailers and credit card companies and tell them: I’m not going to be buying Xmas stuff and I’m not going to be charging Xmas stuff until this country has a system in place that ensures fair and verifiable elections. Reader Kate has done the research and discovered that The National Retail Federation “is the world’s largest retail trade association . . . .” Write to Their Vice President for Legislative and Political Affairs, Katherine Lugar. Here’s her contact info:National Retail Federation325 7th Street, N.W.Suite 1100Washington, D.C. 20004Phone: 1-800-NRF-HOW2Fax (202) 727-2849Write to your credit card companies and tell them the same thing. You can find the address on the back of your latest bill. And, heck if you’re really angry about this last election, write to the large department stores that you patronize, or at least cc them on your letter to the National Retail Federation. CC your Senators and Congressman or Congresswoman as well.Do it for my friend Arlo, who reminded us that there’s strength in numbers:You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may think it's a movement. And that's what it is, the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar.And pass the idea on to everyone you know. Merry Xmas.Thanks, Kate!
All I Want for Xmas Is Fair and Verifiable Elections So it’s black Friday, the day when retailers plan on making really big bucks selling people Xmas presents. Lately, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about our consumerist society and wondering to what extent the pervasive nature of consumerism may have influenced the recent election. Clearly, the fact that the news is now simply a way to sell product has harmed our society and, as Jon Stewart so eloquently explained to Tucker Carlson, the pitch to the lowest common denominator, where even political discourse is sold as a form of TV wrestling, has hurt America. Even war is sold to Americans as a product and, if the ad campaign constantly changes with new and different rationales for why we should buy this product, well, we’re all used to that from frequently-changing commercials for everything from heartburn medicine to SUVs. Do Americans really need or even want all the crap that they’ll buy over the next few weeks?I’ve also been thinking about the role of protests in a situation such as the current one in America. I grew up on protest marches; my dad took me to some of the great Viet Nam war protests and just this past April I marched with friends and family in the March for Women’s Lives. Watching what’s been happening in Ukraine, I wonder why Americans haven’t taken to the streets, as well. And yet, I wonder if large protests are still effective in America. The March for Women’s Lives was huge -- over a million people. The protests at the Republican convention in NYC this summer were huge, too. Both got a fair amount of news coverage. Neither seemed to help -- Roe’s dead within the next year and Lame Duckie has proclaimed himself the winner of the election. Finally, I doubt Lame Duckie will allow much of any protest at his coronation -- protestors will be kept out for "security" reasons. If he didn’t need to allow protestors in when he was ostensibly running for re-election, he sure doesn’t need to allow them now.So, if there’s a big protest march, I’ll be there, just because I like to put my body where it may do some good and be counted. But I also think we need to consider other ways to make our displeasure known. And that’s where economics come in.I don’t know for sure if this last election was stolen, although I know what my gut tells me. This study certainly gives me pause. However, the point of this thread isn’t to restart the why-did-Kerry-concede-why-isn’t-Atrios-screaming-about-Diebold debate. Here’s what I do know for sure and think everyone can agree upon: it’s important for all Americans, including those whose candidate didn’t prevail, to be able to have faith that our elections are carried out fairly and honestly. And the current situation doesn’t allow us to have that faith. Instead, what we have is a patchwork of fallible systems that appears designed more for the purpose of allowing skullduggery than for the purpose of ensuring fair elections. And that, I believe, is worth an economic protest.This year, I’m urging everyone I know to refuse to spend money for Xmas as a protest. Stay out of the stores. For Goddess sake, don’t run up credit card debt. Give your family and friends the gift of your time and attention rather than a new sweater that they won’t wear or some object to clutter-up an already over-cluttered life. But just not buying isn’t enough. You’ve got to contact the retailers and credit card companies and tell them: I’m not going to be buying Xmas stuff and I’m not going to be charging Xmas stuff until this country has a system in place that ensures fair and verifiable elections. Reader Kate has done the research and discovered that The National Retail Federation “is the world’s largest retail trade association . . . .” Write to Their Vice President for Legislative and Political Affairs, Katherine Lugar. Here’s her contact info:National Retail Federation325 7th Street, N.W.Suite 1100Washington, D.C. 20004Phone: 1-800-NRF-HOW2Fax (202) 727-2849Write to your credit card companies and tell them the same thing. You can find the address on the back of your latest bill. And, heck if you’re really angry about this last election, write to the large department stores that you patronize, or at least cc them on your letter to the National Retail Federation. CC your Senators and Congressman or Congresswoman as well.Do it for my friend Arlo, who reminded us that there’s strength in numbers:You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may think it's a movement. And that's what it is, the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar.And pass the idea on to everyone you know. Merry Xmas.Thanks, Kate!
# posted by scorpiorising : 11:41 AM |
Thursday, November 25, 2004
A story on how the vote was rigged
From this democracy underground forum thread:
Google the author, Wayne Madsen, before passing judgement...he has credentials:
Special Report
Saudis, Enron money helped pay for US rigged election
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Download a .pdf file for printing.
Adobe Acrobat Reader required.
Click here to download a free copy.
November 25, 2004—According to informed sources in Washington and Houston, the Bush campaign spent some $29 million to pay polling place operatives around the country to rig the election for Bush. The operatives were posing as Homeland Security and FBI agents but were actually technicians familiar with Diebold, Sequoia, ES&S, Triad, Unilect, and Danaher Controls voting machines. These technicians reportedly hacked the systems to skew the results in favor of Bush.
The leak about the money and the rigged election apparently came from technicians who were promised to be paid a certain amount for their work but the Bush campaign interlocutors reneged and some of the technicians are revealing the nature of the vote rigging program.
There have been media reports from around the country concerning the locking down of precincts while votes were being tallied. In one unprecedented action in Warren County, Ohio, election officials locked down the facility where votes were being counted. The officials said this was in response to a Level 10 high-threat terrorist warning being issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI for Warren County. George Bush won 72 percent of the vote in Warren County, much larger than his percentage of victory statewide.
The money to rig the election in favor of Bush reportedly came from an entity called Five Star Trust, largely based in Houston but a worldwide entity that is directly tied to the Saudi Royal Family. Five Star Trust was termed "a well-protected vehicle" that has been used to support both Bush and Osama bin Laden in the US and around the world.
Other money used to fund the election rigging was from siphoned Enron money stored away in accounts in the Cook Islands, which was once the base of one of the more questionable and Saudi-linked BCCI subsidiaries. Cook Islands banks also handled some of the weapons smuggling financing of the Iran-Contra scandal. A former Justice Department attorney who helped prosecute the BCCI case said the use of the Cook Islands by the Bush reelection team indicates they wanted the bank arrangements to be a "quick folding tent" operation that would cease to exist when the election was over. He said the Cook Islands was notorious for not requiring any documentation for such operations.
In fact, the Cook Islands has been a favorite location for various covert intelligence activities. This most recent use of the islands is a continuation of a scandal discovered in New Zealand in the early '90s called the "Winebox Affair." In 1992, a computer dealer named Paul White bought some secondhand computers and floppy disks from the Citibank office in Auckland, New Zealand, that had earlier sold them to a scrap dealer.
White later discovered the floppies (and 10 paper files) detailed a scheme to use the European Pacific Bank in the Cook Islands to bilk foreign governments and banks for a phony 15 percent tax bill assessed on various transactions by the Cook Islands government (at the time run by Tom Davis, a former US Army and NASA research scientist who was allegedly on the payroll of the CIA). European Pacific reaped millions of illegal dollars from the New Zealand Treasury and a number of Japanese banks, including Mitsubishi Bank. Paul White later died in a suspicious auto accident.
As detailed in the book "The Paradise Conspiracy" by New Zealand journalist Ian Wishart, the Cook Islands scheme also involved several CIA operatives, including Lawrence John Fahey, who had an interest in InterAir of Nevada, one of the airlines used by Ollie North to funnel arms to Iran. It also involved William Raupe, a CIA officer stationed under cover as a USAID employee at the US embassy in Suva. Raupe had once worked for Air America in South East Asia. Another CIA agent active in the Cooks was Robert C. Allen, known to New Zealand authorities as a US agent who was formerly with the CIA proprietary firm Bishop, Baldwin, Dillingham, Wong Ltd. In addition, along with the late former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Gerald Parsky was also involved in the European Pacific Bank's Cook Islands operations. Parsky is George W. Bush's chief fundraiser and adviser in California (he led Bush's 2000 California campaign) and supported Simon's son's unsuccessful bid for the governorship of California against Gray Davis and then again in the recall of Davis. Enron was involved early on with Arnold Schwarzenegger at a meeting in 2001 at the Beverly Hills Hotel at the same time Enron was bilking California utility customers with increases as high as 1000 percent This scheme eventually led to Davis's recall and his replacement by Schwarzenegger.
The Cook Islands-Citibank-European Pacific fraud appeared to have been cooked up to take the place of other "outed" CIA banking activities, including Nugan Hand Bank in Australia. European Pacific also involved assets of BCCI, in particular the Commercial Bank of Commerce in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, a BCCI subsidiary. MIchael Hand, a former Green Beret who reportedly served with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in Laos (and whose partner, Frank Nugan, was found shot to death in 1980 in Australia) later turned up associated with Euromac (European Manufacturing Center) Ltd., a British company that tried to sell nuclear trigger krytrons to Saddam Hussein before the first Gulf War. Nugan Hand's chief counsel, William Colby, a former CIA Director, was found floating in the Chesapeake in 1996.
The sale of nuclear material to Iraq was funded through Saudi operations in Houston, including those associated with George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, James R. Bath, and Saudis Abdullah Taha Baksh, and Kamal Adham, as well as Lebanese businessman Ghaith Pharaon (who was also involved in the collapse of Miami's CenTrust S&L, a bank that had ties to Jeb Bush). This gang, along with Salem Bin Laden, the older brother of Osama, funneled over $1 million into failed Bush ventures, including Arbusto, Spectrum 7, and Harken Energy. Some of the Saudi money also financed Enron Oil and Gas Resources (later EOG Resources) in the Belspec Fusselman Field in Midland, Texas, a deal in which George W. Bush had a financial stake. In fact, Saudi planes in the 1980s landed in Houston with mountains of cash used to buy nuclear material for Saddam to possibly use against the Iranians. The money was laundered through Houston's Main Bank, a bank close to the Bush family. Skyway Aircraft of Houston, owned by Bath, was invested in by Abu Dhabi's ruler (the main owner of BCCI) and whose parent company in the Cayman Islands was used by Ollie North to collect foreign money for his Iran-contra enterprise.
Another person involved in the Cook Islands bank defrauding scheme was a Lebanese-American named Samir Bashout (alias Dr. Khalaf B. Bashout) who set up Midland International Bank and Trust Ltd in the Cook Islands with no real capital. Bashout's Midland had nothing to do with Midland Bank of the UK but may have been named for Midland, Texas, of George W. Bush fame. Bashout was later convicted of beating his wife in Rancho Park, Calif., amid a nasty divorce. She claimed he secreted away much of his money. Bashout's Metro Bank (Philippines) account in Los Angeles was found to contain only $10,000, not the $10 million he claimed to Cook Islands' authorities. US Treasury agent John Shockey alerted the Cook Islands internal auditor to Bashout's repeated attempts to bounce a check for $5 million. In January 2002, Hamilton Bank failed after it lost $500 million due to loan scandals and money laundering charges. The recipient of a $5.5 million loan was Metro Bank International, headquartered in Vanuatu, an offshore banking location similar to the Cook Islands. Metro Bank was thought to contain some of the billions of dollars laundered by the CIA and the Cook Islands International Trust Corp. on behalf of Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos's CIA intermediaries in the Cooks were Eldon William Morris, James Centers, and Dante Dominigo Agdeppa. Morris was under investigation by the Queensland Special Branch and the FBI in Hawaii and California.
Bashout was also involved in the defunct World Arabic Television News (WATN), an Arabic television network that attracted the attention of the Houston-based Arab Times newspaper as not delivering on its promises and defrauding investors.
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative reporter. He was also the Operations Officer at Naval Facility Coos Head, Oregon from 1980 to 1982 and assisted the FBI and NIS in the investigation as a temporary special agent.
The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not necessarily reflect those of Online Journal.
Email editor@onlinejournal.com
Google the author, Wayne Madsen, before passing judgement...he has credentials:
Special Report
Saudis, Enron money helped pay for US rigged election
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Download a .pdf file for printing.
Adobe Acrobat Reader required.
Click here to download a free copy.
November 25, 2004—According to informed sources in Washington and Houston, the Bush campaign spent some $29 million to pay polling place operatives around the country to rig the election for Bush. The operatives were posing as Homeland Security and FBI agents but were actually technicians familiar with Diebold, Sequoia, ES&S, Triad, Unilect, and Danaher Controls voting machines. These technicians reportedly hacked the systems to skew the results in favor of Bush.
The leak about the money and the rigged election apparently came from technicians who were promised to be paid a certain amount for their work but the Bush campaign interlocutors reneged and some of the technicians are revealing the nature of the vote rigging program.
There have been media reports from around the country concerning the locking down of precincts while votes were being tallied. In one unprecedented action in Warren County, Ohio, election officials locked down the facility where votes were being counted. The officials said this was in response to a Level 10 high-threat terrorist warning being issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI for Warren County. George Bush won 72 percent of the vote in Warren County, much larger than his percentage of victory statewide.
The money to rig the election in favor of Bush reportedly came from an entity called Five Star Trust, largely based in Houston but a worldwide entity that is directly tied to the Saudi Royal Family. Five Star Trust was termed "a well-protected vehicle" that has been used to support both Bush and Osama bin Laden in the US and around the world.
Other money used to fund the election rigging was from siphoned Enron money stored away in accounts in the Cook Islands, which was once the base of one of the more questionable and Saudi-linked BCCI subsidiaries. Cook Islands banks also handled some of the weapons smuggling financing of the Iran-Contra scandal. A former Justice Department attorney who helped prosecute the BCCI case said the use of the Cook Islands by the Bush reelection team indicates they wanted the bank arrangements to be a "quick folding tent" operation that would cease to exist when the election was over. He said the Cook Islands was notorious for not requiring any documentation for such operations.
In fact, the Cook Islands has been a favorite location for various covert intelligence activities. This most recent use of the islands is a continuation of a scandal discovered in New Zealand in the early '90s called the "Winebox Affair." In 1992, a computer dealer named Paul White bought some secondhand computers and floppy disks from the Citibank office in Auckland, New Zealand, that had earlier sold them to a scrap dealer.
White later discovered the floppies (and 10 paper files) detailed a scheme to use the European Pacific Bank in the Cook Islands to bilk foreign governments and banks for a phony 15 percent tax bill assessed on various transactions by the Cook Islands government (at the time run by Tom Davis, a former US Army and NASA research scientist who was allegedly on the payroll of the CIA). European Pacific reaped millions of illegal dollars from the New Zealand Treasury and a number of Japanese banks, including Mitsubishi Bank. Paul White later died in a suspicious auto accident.
As detailed in the book "The Paradise Conspiracy" by New Zealand journalist Ian Wishart, the Cook Islands scheme also involved several CIA operatives, including Lawrence John Fahey, who had an interest in InterAir of Nevada, one of the airlines used by Ollie North to funnel arms to Iran. It also involved William Raupe, a CIA officer stationed under cover as a USAID employee at the US embassy in Suva. Raupe had once worked for Air America in South East Asia. Another CIA agent active in the Cooks was Robert C. Allen, known to New Zealand authorities as a US agent who was formerly with the CIA proprietary firm Bishop, Baldwin, Dillingham, Wong Ltd. In addition, along with the late former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Gerald Parsky was also involved in the European Pacific Bank's Cook Islands operations. Parsky is George W. Bush's chief fundraiser and adviser in California (he led Bush's 2000 California campaign) and supported Simon's son's unsuccessful bid for the governorship of California against Gray Davis and then again in the recall of Davis. Enron was involved early on with Arnold Schwarzenegger at a meeting in 2001 at the Beverly Hills Hotel at the same time Enron was bilking California utility customers with increases as high as 1000 percent This scheme eventually led to Davis's recall and his replacement by Schwarzenegger.
The Cook Islands-Citibank-European Pacific fraud appeared to have been cooked up to take the place of other "outed" CIA banking activities, including Nugan Hand Bank in Australia. European Pacific also involved assets of BCCI, in particular the Commercial Bank of Commerce in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, a BCCI subsidiary. MIchael Hand, a former Green Beret who reportedly served with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in Laos (and whose partner, Frank Nugan, was found shot to death in 1980 in Australia) later turned up associated with Euromac (European Manufacturing Center) Ltd., a British company that tried to sell nuclear trigger krytrons to Saddam Hussein before the first Gulf War. Nugan Hand's chief counsel, William Colby, a former CIA Director, was found floating in the Chesapeake in 1996.
The sale of nuclear material to Iraq was funded through Saudi operations in Houston, including those associated with George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, James R. Bath, and Saudis Abdullah Taha Baksh, and Kamal Adham, as well as Lebanese businessman Ghaith Pharaon (who was also involved in the collapse of Miami's CenTrust S&L, a bank that had ties to Jeb Bush). This gang, along with Salem Bin Laden, the older brother of Osama, funneled over $1 million into failed Bush ventures, including Arbusto, Spectrum 7, and Harken Energy. Some of the Saudi money also financed Enron Oil and Gas Resources (later EOG Resources) in the Belspec Fusselman Field in Midland, Texas, a deal in which George W. Bush had a financial stake. In fact, Saudi planes in the 1980s landed in Houston with mountains of cash used to buy nuclear material for Saddam to possibly use against the Iranians. The money was laundered through Houston's Main Bank, a bank close to the Bush family. Skyway Aircraft of Houston, owned by Bath, was invested in by Abu Dhabi's ruler (the main owner of BCCI) and whose parent company in the Cayman Islands was used by Ollie North to collect foreign money for his Iran-contra enterprise.
Another person involved in the Cook Islands bank defrauding scheme was a Lebanese-American named Samir Bashout (alias Dr. Khalaf B. Bashout) who set up Midland International Bank and Trust Ltd in the Cook Islands with no real capital. Bashout's Midland had nothing to do with Midland Bank of the UK but may have been named for Midland, Texas, of George W. Bush fame. Bashout was later convicted of beating his wife in Rancho Park, Calif., amid a nasty divorce. She claimed he secreted away much of his money. Bashout's Metro Bank (Philippines) account in Los Angeles was found to contain only $10,000, not the $10 million he claimed to Cook Islands' authorities. US Treasury agent John Shockey alerted the Cook Islands internal auditor to Bashout's repeated attempts to bounce a check for $5 million. In January 2002, Hamilton Bank failed after it lost $500 million due to loan scandals and money laundering charges. The recipient of a $5.5 million loan was Metro Bank International, headquartered in Vanuatu, an offshore banking location similar to the Cook Islands. Metro Bank was thought to contain some of the billions of dollars laundered by the CIA and the Cook Islands International Trust Corp. on behalf of Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos's CIA intermediaries in the Cooks were Eldon William Morris, James Centers, and Dante Dominigo Agdeppa. Morris was under investigation by the Queensland Special Branch and the FBI in Hawaii and California.
Bashout was also involved in the defunct World Arabic Television News (WATN), an Arabic television network that attracted the attention of the Houston-based Arab Times newspaper as not delivering on its promises and defrauding investors.
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative reporter. He was also the Operations Officer at Naval Facility Coos Head, Oregon from 1980 to 1982 and assisted the FBI and NIS in the investigation as a temporary special agent.
The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not necessarily reflect those of Online Journal.
Email editor@onlinejournal.com
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:34 AM |
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
More analysis of North Carolina
More analysis of North Carolina on democracy underground:
BeFree asked me a few days ago to look over the North Carolina election returns. Things looked funny. They were way out of sync with the exit polls and no one could believe that Erskine Bowles had lost in the Senate race. The deeper I looked at the figures, the more things began to look disturbing. I downloaded the precinct data and began to pour through it for clues. Then I saw that the absentee vote (which apparently also includes the early voting data) was huge, comprising more than *a million votes* and nearly a full third of the total vote (30%). It offered the chance to compare an unadulterated voting pattern against the strange results of election day. I reasoned with an early vote that large, it is no longer a sample but a benchmark. The nearer one approaches 100%, the more accurate the picture of the whole. At one third, any inconsistencies should even out -- even if more white suburban Republicans voted by absentee (as has been charged in the past with smaller samples) or if the Democratic GOTV pushed our early numbers (as has been assumed for this election).
In that respect, I was lucky to have looked at North Carolina -- it's not as crazed as the battleground states and the electorate is nicely split between parties. Any inconsistencies of one side dominating the early vote would have showed up in the data -- they didn't.With that in mind, I began an informal review of the NC absentee vote. What I found was stunning, and I believe it should have national implications. I have little doubt that we will find the same thing elsewhere by using benchmark absentee data against election day returns.
It not only reflects the pattern of exit poll discrepancy we saw throughout the country, but it also makes a compelling case for purposeful tampering with the electronic data. I also think it reveals the three objectives of the Bush re-election campaign: 1) re-election 2) mandate 3) strong Senate majority.
BeFree asked me a few days ago to look over the North Carolina election returns. Things looked funny. They were way out of sync with the exit polls and no one could believe that Erskine Bowles had lost in the Senate race. The deeper I looked at the figures, the more things began to look disturbing. I downloaded the precinct data and began to pour through it for clues. Then I saw that the absentee vote (which apparently also includes the early voting data) was huge, comprising more than *a million votes* and nearly a full third of the total vote (30%). It offered the chance to compare an unadulterated voting pattern against the strange results of election day. I reasoned with an early vote that large, it is no longer a sample but a benchmark. The nearer one approaches 100%, the more accurate the picture of the whole. At one third, any inconsistencies should even out -- even if more white suburban Republicans voted by absentee (as has been charged in the past with smaller samples) or if the Democratic GOTV pushed our early numbers (as has been assumed for this election).
In that respect, I was lucky to have looked at North Carolina -- it's not as crazed as the battleground states and the electorate is nicely split between parties. Any inconsistencies of one side dominating the early vote would have showed up in the data -- they didn't.With that in mind, I began an informal review of the NC absentee vote. What I found was stunning, and I believe it should have national implications. I have little doubt that we will find the same thing elsewhere by using benchmark absentee data against election day returns.
It not only reflects the pattern of exit poll discrepancy we saw throughout the country, but it also makes a compelling case for purposeful tampering with the electronic data. I also think it reveals the three objectives of the Bush re-election campaign: 1) re-election 2) mandate 3) strong Senate majority.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:58 AM |
Corruption in N.C. e-voting?
The democracy underground forum member found these anomalies in North Carolina. Click on the link for the full statistical analysis:
In part one of my analysis of the North Carolina General Election, I identified a discrepancy in voting patterns between the first third of the election via absentee/early vote and the other two-thirds of the election at the November 2nd polls. In the follow-up, I look deep into the county data to try to locate the source of the discrepancy and ask whether or not a solid case can be made for a modified election. The conclusions I've reached are as follows:
I. Most of the discrepancy can be attributed to optical scan and punch card counties. A large question remains as to how much of the discrepancy is the result of central tabulating computers, "spoiled ballots," or higher Republican turnout. The evidence shows that punch cards and certain optical scan vendors had a much lower percentage of their votes cast in the early vote than were cast by other voting systems. Why?
II. Older, manual systems (hand counted paper ballots & levers) showed a precise correlation in the early and election day votes AND with the exit polls.
III. While the DRE electronic voting systems had only a two percent disparity between the early vote and election day, there is stunning evidence to suggest they corrupted BOTH sides of the election.
In part one of my analysis of the North Carolina General Election, I identified a discrepancy in voting patterns between the first third of the election via absentee/early vote and the other two-thirds of the election at the November 2nd polls. In the follow-up, I look deep into the county data to try to locate the source of the discrepancy and ask whether or not a solid case can be made for a modified election. The conclusions I've reached are as follows:
I. Most of the discrepancy can be attributed to optical scan and punch card counties. A large question remains as to how much of the discrepancy is the result of central tabulating computers, "spoiled ballots," or higher Republican turnout. The evidence shows that punch cards and certain optical scan vendors had a much lower percentage of their votes cast in the early vote than were cast by other voting systems. Why?
II. Older, manual systems (hand counted paper ballots & levers) showed a precise correlation in the early and election day votes AND with the exit polls.
III. While the DRE electronic voting systems had only a two percent disparity between the early vote and election day, there is stunning evidence to suggest they corrupted BOTH sides of the election.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:50 AM |
Bush's 8 million votes found
From democracy underground forum. Click on the link for the statistical analysis. Also, click on this link for the location, state by state, of the voting machines in question :
FINDINGS
1. Bush did not pick up any vote at all on the West Coast.. in fact he lost ground in both Washington and California. This is interesting as this is arguably where the BBV machine manufacturers have been receiving the most heat. However it could reflect a relative lack of interest in so-called "moral issues" out west.
2. The five states I picked on the basis that they are known to have lots of voting machines (and particularly Diebold machines) had a significantly higher percentage increase in bush voters than average… 25% compared to 17% nationally.
3. Likewise the swing states also had a higher average rate of new bush voters at 21%. This however might be expected as they also had much more active campaigns.
4. Among the 31 states I examined were three big democratic states NY, NJ and IL. I selected them on a hunch because a) they are unlikely to be suspected of being used in a vote rigging exercise, but b) necessary to include if you want to achieve a large across the board popular vote gain that does not look too suspicious. These three states averaged a 21% vote gains for Bush and NJ and NY achieved around 25%. However between them they contributed 1.7 million new bush votes, or nearly 20% of Bush's total vote gain.
5. The remainder of my selection of states is broadly defined as "red states", they averaged 20% in terms of voting gain for bush. Notably both Kansas and Utah achieved % gains for bush below the national average. I am guessing here but I would have thought both states were "moral issue" based voter heavy.DISTRIBUTION OF THE VOTES
6. In sheer numeric terms Bush gained far and away the most votes in Texas and Florida, 900k and 700k respectively.
7. 60% of all Bushes new votes, 5.2 million votes, were gained in just 11 states…FL, TX. NY, OH, PA, GA, MI, NJ, TN, NC, IL
8. Add in another 8 states and you get to 82% of all bush's new votes or 7.1 million… the states are WI MN IND AL OK KY AZ LOU & MD
9. Put another way 7.1 million votes or 82% of bushes gain was achieved in states totalling 65% of the popular vote. Within these states he achieved an average vote gain of an astonishing 23%.
10. 92% of the vote gain is found in the 31 states I selected data for.
11. The rate of bush vote growth in the remaining 20 states was just 5% on average.
12. In percentage terms Florida and Georgia (both heavily Diebold equipment using states) were the standouts with 32% gains respectively.
13. In percentage terms five other states showed more than 25% growth in the bush vote, in ascending order they were Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Of these AZ, NM and OK both recently upgraded their machines to new tech machines. NJ and TN also both use computerised voting machines, albeit older models.
FINDINGS
1. Bush did not pick up any vote at all on the West Coast.. in fact he lost ground in both Washington and California. This is interesting as this is arguably where the BBV machine manufacturers have been receiving the most heat. However it could reflect a relative lack of interest in so-called "moral issues" out west.
2. The five states I picked on the basis that they are known to have lots of voting machines (and particularly Diebold machines) had a significantly higher percentage increase in bush voters than average… 25% compared to 17% nationally.
3. Likewise the swing states also had a higher average rate of new bush voters at 21%. This however might be expected as they also had much more active campaigns.
4. Among the 31 states I examined were three big democratic states NY, NJ and IL. I selected them on a hunch because a) they are unlikely to be suspected of being used in a vote rigging exercise, but b) necessary to include if you want to achieve a large across the board popular vote gain that does not look too suspicious. These three states averaged a 21% vote gains for Bush and NJ and NY achieved around 25%. However between them they contributed 1.7 million new bush votes, or nearly 20% of Bush's total vote gain.
5. The remainder of my selection of states is broadly defined as "red states", they averaged 20% in terms of voting gain for bush. Notably both Kansas and Utah achieved % gains for bush below the national average. I am guessing here but I would have thought both states were "moral issue" based voter heavy.DISTRIBUTION OF THE VOTES
6. In sheer numeric terms Bush gained far and away the most votes in Texas and Florida, 900k and 700k respectively.
7. 60% of all Bushes new votes, 5.2 million votes, were gained in just 11 states…FL, TX. NY, OH, PA, GA, MI, NJ, TN, NC, IL
8. Add in another 8 states and you get to 82% of all bush's new votes or 7.1 million… the states are WI MN IND AL OK KY AZ LOU & MD
9. Put another way 7.1 million votes or 82% of bushes gain was achieved in states totalling 65% of the popular vote. Within these states he achieved an average vote gain of an astonishing 23%.
10. 92% of the vote gain is found in the 31 states I selected data for.
11. The rate of bush vote growth in the remaining 20 states was just 5% on average.
12. In percentage terms Florida and Georgia (both heavily Diebold equipment using states) were the standouts with 32% gains respectively.
13. In percentage terms five other states showed more than 25% growth in the bush vote, in ascending order they were Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Of these AZ, NM and OK both recently upgraded their machines to new tech machines. NJ and TN also both use computerised voting machines, albeit older models.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:03 AM |
Monday, November 22, 2004
Ohio Democratic Party joins the Recount Battle
I just spoke to Dan Trevas with the Ohio Democratic Party. He said, the Kerry/Edwards camp is indeed endorsing the recount effort, but not to read too much into it, in this sense: this was an inevitable outcome of what has transpired since election day, and also what took place on election day. However, it is an effort orchestrated by Ohio, not by the Kerry/Edwards campaign itself, though they have endorsed the effort, as I stated. Trevas said their attorneys spoke to Kerry/Edwards attorneys, and now the ball is rolling to recruit volunteers for the recount effort, and money.
Right now, no financing explicitly stated from the Kerry campaign, but, remember that army of lawyers? Some of them are participating in Ohio on this effort, and have been on this from the beginning. They are likely local lawyers, I am guessing.
Trevas said this effort was inevitable, in that they all knew there was going to be a heavy turnout, and, given that the Ohio state house is republican controlled, and funding for the election, in essence, republican controlled, Trevas had publicly warned that a recount would likely be sought if things weren't on the up and up.
Press Release:
Monday, November 22, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2004
Kerry/Edwards Campaign Participates Ohio Recount Ohio Democratic Party Seeks Volunteers to Help Recount.
COLUMBUS – Assuring Ohioans receive an accurate count of all votes cast for president has prompted the Democratic Party to participate in the initiative to recount the results of the Nov. 2 presidential election.
“As Senator Kerry stated in his concession speech in Boston, we do not necessarily expect the results of the election to change, however, we believe it necessary to make sure everyone's vote is counted fairly and accurately,” said Dennis White, Ohio Democratic Party chair.
Columbus Attorney Donald McTigue will lead the recount effort on behalf of Ohio Democrats. The party will be recruiting volunteer witnesses to assist in the recount process in all 88 counties.
On Election Day and throughout the month of November, angry Ohio citizens have expressed frustration with long lines, malfunctioning voting machines and undelivered absentee ballots. There have been inconsistencies in the unofficial reports of the election, including an error in one Franklin County precinct that gave George Bush 3,893 more votes than actually cast for him.
The recount can begin after the official results are certified, which likely will be in the first week of December. The Democratic Party wants to be fully prepared to begin a recount immediately.
Volunteers can sign up at the Ohio Democratic Party website: www.ohiodems.org and the party will also accept contributions to help offset the cost of completing a recount.
“We are proud to stand up for Democrats all over the world who have asked us to make sure every vote gets counted. And we want to demonstrate that Ohio can do better in the future to guarantee every voters who wants to vote, has a chance to vote,” White said.
Right now, no financing explicitly stated from the Kerry campaign, but, remember that army of lawyers? Some of them are participating in Ohio on this effort, and have been on this from the beginning. They are likely local lawyers, I am guessing.
Trevas said this effort was inevitable, in that they all knew there was going to be a heavy turnout, and, given that the Ohio state house is republican controlled, and funding for the election, in essence, republican controlled, Trevas had publicly warned that a recount would likely be sought if things weren't on the up and up.
Press Release:
Monday, November 22, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2004
Kerry/Edwards Campaign Participates Ohio Recount Ohio Democratic Party Seeks Volunteers to Help Recount.
COLUMBUS – Assuring Ohioans receive an accurate count of all votes cast for president has prompted the Democratic Party to participate in the initiative to recount the results of the Nov. 2 presidential election.
“As Senator Kerry stated in his concession speech in Boston, we do not necessarily expect the results of the election to change, however, we believe it necessary to make sure everyone's vote is counted fairly and accurately,” said Dennis White, Ohio Democratic Party chair.
Columbus Attorney Donald McTigue will lead the recount effort on behalf of Ohio Democrats. The party will be recruiting volunteer witnesses to assist in the recount process in all 88 counties.
On Election Day and throughout the month of November, angry Ohio citizens have expressed frustration with long lines, malfunctioning voting machines and undelivered absentee ballots. There have been inconsistencies in the unofficial reports of the election, including an error in one Franklin County precinct that gave George Bush 3,893 more votes than actually cast for him.
The recount can begin after the official results are certified, which likely will be in the first week of December. The Democratic Party wants to be fully prepared to begin a recount immediately.
Volunteers can sign up at the Ohio Democratic Party website: www.ohiodems.org and the party will also accept contributions to help offset the cost of completing a recount.
“We are proud to stand up for Democrats all over the world who have asked us to make sure every vote gets counted. And we want to demonstrate that Ohio can do better in the future to guarantee every voters who wants to vote, has a chance to vote,” White said.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:14 PM |
Beverly Harris "interviewed" by the Secret Service this past April, 2004
Beverly Harris was interviewed by the Secret Service, she revealed in a democratic underground forum in April, of 2004, and, this is what they wanted from her:
Under the Patriot Act, "hacking" crimes were turned over to a new division, called the CyberCrimes division, and placed under the auspices of the Secret Service. And let me tell you what they want from me now: They want the logs of my web site with all the forum messages, and the IP addresses. That's right. All of them. A giant fishing expedition for every communication of everyone interested in the voting issue.
This has nothing to do with a VoteHere "hack" investigation, and I have refused to turn it over.So, yesterday, they call me up and tell me they are going to subpeona me and put me in front of a grand jury. Well, let 'em. They still aren't getting the list of members of BlackBoxVoting.org unless they seize my computer -- which my attorney tells me might be what they have in mind.Also, Agent Mike told me he just "happened" to be on the plane with me a couple weeks ago. What's that supposed to do? Scare me? "You were going to Oakland," he said. Yeah, and Diebold lawyer's memos appeared in the Oakland Tribune, but guess what, Mike: That was the first hop of three on my way to Dallas. I left that morning for a speech at the Dallas Democratic Forum that evening. Never even got off the plane. Better luck next time.
They show up at interviews with printouts of DemocraticUnderground posts (not even mine -- the ones they showed me were from other DU members). And if they were really investigating what they said -- a VoteHere "hack" can someone explain why they want the logs from the web site BlackBoxVoting.org -- the "hack" occured in early October, but BlackBoxVoting.org was shut down, triggered by a Diebold cease & desist, from Sept 23 to Oct 23.
And (you know who you are) -- consider this a heads up: If you start bumbling around in my house with U.S. marshalls, the very first thing that will happen is mainstream news coverage that you are misusing the Patriot Act to get at membership lists and private correspondence for a fishing expedition on stuff that isn't even the subject of a legitimate investigation.
By the way. I need to pick up a few things so that, in the event my computer gets seized, I don't lose a whole lot of time being unable to get my work done. I've been advised what backup systems to get, need to buy them, and will head elsewhere until all systems are backed up. So, if you see fit for a small donation (info at http://www.blackboxvoting.org ) this would help me very much with my temporary relocation and purchasing the backup computer stuff. Yeah, I'm pissed.
Taking the pulse of our democracy nowadays, it doesn't feel very healthy, does it?
Bev Harris
Under the Patriot Act, "hacking" crimes were turned over to a new division, called the CyberCrimes division, and placed under the auspices of the Secret Service. And let me tell you what they want from me now: They want the logs of my web site with all the forum messages, and the IP addresses. That's right. All of them. A giant fishing expedition for every communication of everyone interested in the voting issue.
This has nothing to do with a VoteHere "hack" investigation, and I have refused to turn it over.So, yesterday, they call me up and tell me they are going to subpeona me and put me in front of a grand jury. Well, let 'em. They still aren't getting the list of members of BlackBoxVoting.org unless they seize my computer -- which my attorney tells me might be what they have in mind.Also, Agent Mike told me he just "happened" to be on the plane with me a couple weeks ago. What's that supposed to do? Scare me? "You were going to Oakland," he said. Yeah, and Diebold lawyer's memos appeared in the Oakland Tribune, but guess what, Mike: That was the first hop of three on my way to Dallas. I left that morning for a speech at the Dallas Democratic Forum that evening. Never even got off the plane. Better luck next time.
They show up at interviews with printouts of DemocraticUnderground posts (not even mine -- the ones they showed me were from other DU members). And if they were really investigating what they said -- a VoteHere "hack" can someone explain why they want the logs from the web site BlackBoxVoting.org -- the "hack" occured in early October, but BlackBoxVoting.org was shut down, triggered by a Diebold cease & desist, from Sept 23 to Oct 23.
And (you know who you are) -- consider this a heads up: If you start bumbling around in my house with U.S. marshalls, the very first thing that will happen is mainstream news coverage that you are misusing the Patriot Act to get at membership lists and private correspondence for a fishing expedition on stuff that isn't even the subject of a legitimate investigation.
By the way. I need to pick up a few things so that, in the event my computer gets seized, I don't lose a whole lot of time being unable to get my work done. I've been advised what backup systems to get, need to buy them, and will head elsewhere until all systems are backed up. So, if you see fit for a small donation (info at http://www.blackboxvoting.org ) this would help me very much with my temporary relocation and purchasing the backup computer stuff. Yeah, I'm pissed.
Taking the pulse of our democracy nowadays, it doesn't feel very healthy, does it?
Bev Harris
# posted by scorpiorising : 11:32 AM |
How Ohio was rigged for Bush
This diary from DailyKos says it all, and I am going to print it in its entirety.:
How Ohio was Rigged For Bush
Mon Nov 22nd, 2004 at 06:37:04 PST
Bob Fitrakis of freepress.org is doing yeoman work in investigating what the hell went on in Ohio. He is also an attorney and is co-counsel in the lawsuit that was recently filed in Ohio, which I have diaried about previously. Today he has a new column out that puts it all together, and shows how they rigged the game in Ohio to ensure that Bush would squeak it out - which is exactly what happened.
Please note that I have spoken to Mr. Fitrakis over the phone and he has encouraged me to re-post his items here. He wants the information out. I do encourage everyone who is interested in this issue to check out freepress.org, they may well be the single best source for information about the election in Ohio.
Also, please note that there have been a lot of questions raised by kossacks as to HOW the under-allocation of machines to heavily democratic precincts happened. There are answers to those questions in this piece as well.
So, without further ado, here it is. Sickening, ain't it?
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/995
How the Ohio election was rigged for BushNovember 22, 2004
Following four community public hearings in Ohio about election irregularities and voter suppression - two in the capitol, Columbus, and one each in Cincinnati and Cleveland - a clear pattern and practice of voter disenfranchisement is emerging.
In order to understand the extent of the voter suppression in the inner city of Columbus and Franklin County, overwhelmingly Democratic wards, start with the phrase: "Machines Placed By Close Of Polls" on the last page of the county's 17-page voting machine allocation report.
This phrase at the end of the spreadsheet may be the key in unraveling a deliberate and unprecedented plan to repress African American and poor central city voters. In statistics, when you see a bizarre definition or measurement, it sends up red flags. Why doesn't the Franklin County Board of Elections have a number for "Machines Placed By Opening Of Polls"?
It now appears that the Franklin County BOE placed scores of machines too late in the day to alleviate the long lines of voters who gathered to vote before work and at lunchtime.
To better understand what the BOE did on Election Day, consider the following analogy. The near east side of Columbus needs four buses to move the population to the downtown business district. Each bus will move 100 people. At the start of the business day at 6:30am, there are only two buses running and another one with a dead battery. After a few hours, the third bus is put into use. Finally, towards the close of the work day at 6pm, a fourth bus is deployed. The Central Ohio Transit Authority then reports it had four buses operating by the end of the business day. What matters is not how many buses, or voting machines, were operating at the end of the day, but rather how many were there to service the people during the morning and noon rush hours.
Questions remain as to where these machines were placed and who had access to them during the day.
Pacifica reporter Evan Davis reported that a county purchasing official who was on the line with Ward Moving and Storage Company, documented only 2,741 voting machines delivered through the November 2 election day. The county's own documents reveal that they had 2,866 "Machines Available" on Election Day. This would mean that amid the two to seven hour waits in the inner city of Columbus, at least 125 machines remained unused on Election Day. Ward holds the exclusive three-year contract to deliver voting machines in Franklin County.
If the BOE only had 2,741 placed initially, this would explain the long lines in Columbus and voters leaving the polls during the morning voting rush. According to the Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE), in the city of Columbus, where voters waited in the heavily Democratic wards between 2-7 hours to cast the vast majority of their votes for John Kerry, voter turnout was 52.7%. In the affluent white suburbs of Columbus, with far more voting machines available, the turnout figure was 76.15%.
By contrast, 66.31% of registered voters went to the polls in Cincinnati and turnout was 76.82% in the suburbs. In Cincinnati, where more voting machines were available, the difference between the city and suburbs was only 10.5% compared to 23.45% in the Columbus area. Cincinnati and Columbus have similar demographics.
The Franklin County Board of Elections reported that 68 voting machines were never placed on Election Day. In addition, Franklin County BOE Director Matt Damschroder admitted on Friday, November 19, that 77 machines malfunctioned on Election Day.
Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy criticized Damschroder for calling the elections "well-funded and well-planned and that problems could not have been averted, . . ." according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Damschroder, the former Executive Director of the Franklin County Republican Party, told the Franklin County Commissioners, "From our perspective, this election was a success."
Despite an increased registration of more than 167,253 new voters, Damschroder admits he ran the election with a "fixed and exhausted" pool of voting machines, the Dispatch reported. Kilroy pointed out that Damschroder and Franklin County election officials told her "We're fine, we're fine" and never requested additional money over the initial allocation.
The Washington Post reported "Franklin is the only Ohio county to use Danaher Control's ELECTronic 1242, an older-style touchscreen voting system." Franklin County's voting machine allocation report shows that Damschroder deployed his Danaher (formerly Shooptronics) voting machines, which have been in use since 1992, in a formula that favored Bush over Kerry.
In precinct 55-B on Columbus' near east side, there were 1,338 registered voters and, according to Franklin County Board of Elections estimates, 956 active voters who had voted in the last two federal elections. Despite voter registration being up 17%, and by the BOE's own guidelines the polling place requiring ten machines (one per 100 voters), the polling site had only three machines, one less than for the 2000 elections.
The Election Protection Coalition that visited the voting site between 7:30-8:30 a.m. documented a dozen people leaving the polls, six to go to work and six who were either elderly or handicapped. But things were worse in other areas of Columbus.
In precinct 1-B where there were 1,620 registered voters, a 27% increase in voter registration, the precinct had five voting machines in 2000 and only three in 2004. Where did they go? Out to Republican enclaves like Canal Winchester, where two machines were added since 2000, for a total of five to service 1,255 registered voters? Or were they re-routed to Dublin 2-G where 1,656 registered voters apparently needed six machines, twice the number of Columbus' 1-B?
Nearby in Dublin precinct 3-C, 910 registered voters were allocated four voting machines. No doubt machines were shifted from precincts like Columbus 44-G with 1,620 voters and registration up 25%, which lost one machine from the 2000 elections to 2004.
In Cleveland, where a public hearing was held on Saturday, November 20, there was a different pattern of voting irregularities. These include heavily Democratic wards with abnormally low reported rates of voter turnout, three under 20%. In Precinct 6-C where Kerry beat Bush 45 votes to one, allegedly only 7.1% of the registered voters cast ballots. In precinct 13-D where Kerry received 83.8% of the vote, only 13.05% reportedly voted. In precinct 13-F where Kerry received 97.5%, the turnout was reported to be only 19.6%.
One explanation comes from Irma Olmedo, who provided the Free Press with a written statement of her activities in the heavily Hispanic ward 13, which contained the three low voter turnout precincts.
"Ohio does not have bilingual ballots and this disenfranchises many Latino voters who are not totally fluent in English . . . there were 13 poll workers at the school and none knew Spanish. Some could not even find the names of the people on the list because they couldn't understand well when people said their names. . . . Some people put their punch card ballots in backwards when they voted and discovered that they couldn't punch out the holes. They had not read the instructions which were in English, that they had to turn the card around in order to vote," Olmedo stated.
Olmedo translated at precinct 13-O, where 90% of the votes were for Kerry and only 53 votes were counted. The turnout of 21% was due to the lack of Spanish instructions and the misspelling of names: "I noticed that one named Nieves was misspelled as Nieues and the pollworkers were not able to find his name, these people were told to complete a provisional ballot because their names were not on the list."
In Cuyahoga County, according to the Secretary of State's website there are 24,788 provisional ballots, most of them from the city of Cleveland, not its surrounding suburbs. Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell served as Co-Chair of the Bush/Cheney Ohio reelection committee.
There also seems to be an abnormally high vote count for third party candidates who received less than one-half of one percent of the statewide vote total combined. For example, in precinct 4-F, the right-wing Constitutional Law candidate Peroutka received 215 votes to Bush's 21 and Kerry's 290. In this precinct, Kerry received 55% of the vote where Gore received 91% of the vote in the year 200. These numbers suggest that Kerry's votes were inadvertently or intentionally shifted to Peroutka.
In Cincinnati, sworn testimony was taken on vote buying, the lack of machines in African American neighborhoods and the deliberate destruction of new voter registration cards by a private company hired to process the forms.
Exit polls on Election Day from both the polling firm Zogby International and CNN projected John Kerry winning the state of Ohio. University of Pennsylvania Professor Steven Freeman calculated the odds that the exit polls in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania all being wrong are 250,000,000 to one. Pollster John Zogby, President of Zogby International, is quoted as telling the Inter Press Service of Stockholm that "something is definitely wrong."
Zogby commented that he was concerned about the discrepancy between the exit polls and the official vote tallies stating "We're talking about the free world here."
The Alliance for Democracy-Ohio is preparing a lawsuit challenging the outcome of Ohio's election results due to the massive voting irregularities that have emerged in sworn testimony and affidavits.
--
has a Ph.D in Political Science and a J.D. He is a lawyer working with the Alliance for Democracy-Ohio and the Editor of the Columbus Free Press. Reporting in this article also came from Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D and Joe Knapp (http://copperas.com/fcelection/wardbubble.jpg). For additional documentation, visit http://freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/900.
How Ohio was Rigged For Bush
Mon Nov 22nd, 2004 at 06:37:04 PST
Bob Fitrakis of freepress.org is doing yeoman work in investigating what the hell went on in Ohio. He is also an attorney and is co-counsel in the lawsuit that was recently filed in Ohio, which I have diaried about previously. Today he has a new column out that puts it all together, and shows how they rigged the game in Ohio to ensure that Bush would squeak it out - which is exactly what happened.
Please note that I have spoken to Mr. Fitrakis over the phone and he has encouraged me to re-post his items here. He wants the information out. I do encourage everyone who is interested in this issue to check out freepress.org, they may well be the single best source for information about the election in Ohio.
Also, please note that there have been a lot of questions raised by kossacks as to HOW the under-allocation of machines to heavily democratic precincts happened. There are answers to those questions in this piece as well.
So, without further ado, here it is. Sickening, ain't it?
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/995
How the Ohio election was rigged for BushNovember 22, 2004
Following four community public hearings in Ohio about election irregularities and voter suppression - two in the capitol, Columbus, and one each in Cincinnati and Cleveland - a clear pattern and practice of voter disenfranchisement is emerging.
In order to understand the extent of the voter suppression in the inner city of Columbus and Franklin County, overwhelmingly Democratic wards, start with the phrase: "Machines Placed By Close Of Polls" on the last page of the county's 17-page voting machine allocation report.
This phrase at the end of the spreadsheet may be the key in unraveling a deliberate and unprecedented plan to repress African American and poor central city voters. In statistics, when you see a bizarre definition or measurement, it sends up red flags. Why doesn't the Franklin County Board of Elections have a number for "Machines Placed By Opening Of Polls"?
It now appears that the Franklin County BOE placed scores of machines too late in the day to alleviate the long lines of voters who gathered to vote before work and at lunchtime.
To better understand what the BOE did on Election Day, consider the following analogy. The near east side of Columbus needs four buses to move the population to the downtown business district. Each bus will move 100 people. At the start of the business day at 6:30am, there are only two buses running and another one with a dead battery. After a few hours, the third bus is put into use. Finally, towards the close of the work day at 6pm, a fourth bus is deployed. The Central Ohio Transit Authority then reports it had four buses operating by the end of the business day. What matters is not how many buses, or voting machines, were operating at the end of the day, but rather how many were there to service the people during the morning and noon rush hours.
Questions remain as to where these machines were placed and who had access to them during the day.
Pacifica reporter Evan Davis reported that a county purchasing official who was on the line with Ward Moving and Storage Company, documented only 2,741 voting machines delivered through the November 2 election day. The county's own documents reveal that they had 2,866 "Machines Available" on Election Day. This would mean that amid the two to seven hour waits in the inner city of Columbus, at least 125 machines remained unused on Election Day. Ward holds the exclusive three-year contract to deliver voting machines in Franklin County.
If the BOE only had 2,741 placed initially, this would explain the long lines in Columbus and voters leaving the polls during the morning voting rush. According to the Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE), in the city of Columbus, where voters waited in the heavily Democratic wards between 2-7 hours to cast the vast majority of their votes for John Kerry, voter turnout was 52.7%. In the affluent white suburbs of Columbus, with far more voting machines available, the turnout figure was 76.15%.
By contrast, 66.31% of registered voters went to the polls in Cincinnati and turnout was 76.82% in the suburbs. In Cincinnati, where more voting machines were available, the difference between the city and suburbs was only 10.5% compared to 23.45% in the Columbus area. Cincinnati and Columbus have similar demographics.
The Franklin County Board of Elections reported that 68 voting machines were never placed on Election Day. In addition, Franklin County BOE Director Matt Damschroder admitted on Friday, November 19, that 77 machines malfunctioned on Election Day.
Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy criticized Damschroder for calling the elections "well-funded and well-planned and that problems could not have been averted, . . ." according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Damschroder, the former Executive Director of the Franklin County Republican Party, told the Franklin County Commissioners, "From our perspective, this election was a success."
Despite an increased registration of more than 167,253 new voters, Damschroder admits he ran the election with a "fixed and exhausted" pool of voting machines, the Dispatch reported. Kilroy pointed out that Damschroder and Franklin County election officials told her "We're fine, we're fine" and never requested additional money over the initial allocation.
The Washington Post reported "Franklin is the only Ohio county to use Danaher Control's ELECTronic 1242, an older-style touchscreen voting system." Franklin County's voting machine allocation report shows that Damschroder deployed his Danaher (formerly Shooptronics) voting machines, which have been in use since 1992, in a formula that favored Bush over Kerry.
In precinct 55-B on Columbus' near east side, there were 1,338 registered voters and, according to Franklin County Board of Elections estimates, 956 active voters who had voted in the last two federal elections. Despite voter registration being up 17%, and by the BOE's own guidelines the polling place requiring ten machines (one per 100 voters), the polling site had only three machines, one less than for the 2000 elections.
The Election Protection Coalition that visited the voting site between 7:30-8:30 a.m. documented a dozen people leaving the polls, six to go to work and six who were either elderly or handicapped. But things were worse in other areas of Columbus.
In precinct 1-B where there were 1,620 registered voters, a 27% increase in voter registration, the precinct had five voting machines in 2000 and only three in 2004. Where did they go? Out to Republican enclaves like Canal Winchester, where two machines were added since 2000, for a total of five to service 1,255 registered voters? Or were they re-routed to Dublin 2-G where 1,656 registered voters apparently needed six machines, twice the number of Columbus' 1-B?
Nearby in Dublin precinct 3-C, 910 registered voters were allocated four voting machines. No doubt machines were shifted from precincts like Columbus 44-G with 1,620 voters and registration up 25%, which lost one machine from the 2000 elections to 2004.
In Cleveland, where a public hearing was held on Saturday, November 20, there was a different pattern of voting irregularities. These include heavily Democratic wards with abnormally low reported rates of voter turnout, three under 20%. In Precinct 6-C where Kerry beat Bush 45 votes to one, allegedly only 7.1% of the registered voters cast ballots. In precinct 13-D where Kerry received 83.8% of the vote, only 13.05% reportedly voted. In precinct 13-F where Kerry received 97.5%, the turnout was reported to be only 19.6%.
One explanation comes from Irma Olmedo, who provided the Free Press with a written statement of her activities in the heavily Hispanic ward 13, which contained the three low voter turnout precincts.
"Ohio does not have bilingual ballots and this disenfranchises many Latino voters who are not totally fluent in English . . . there were 13 poll workers at the school and none knew Spanish. Some could not even find the names of the people on the list because they couldn't understand well when people said their names. . . . Some people put their punch card ballots in backwards when they voted and discovered that they couldn't punch out the holes. They had not read the instructions which were in English, that they had to turn the card around in order to vote," Olmedo stated.
Olmedo translated at precinct 13-O, where 90% of the votes were for Kerry and only 53 votes were counted. The turnout of 21% was due to the lack of Spanish instructions and the misspelling of names: "I noticed that one named Nieves was misspelled as Nieues and the pollworkers were not able to find his name, these people were told to complete a provisional ballot because their names were not on the list."
In Cuyahoga County, according to the Secretary of State's website there are 24,788 provisional ballots, most of them from the city of Cleveland, not its surrounding suburbs. Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell served as Co-Chair of the Bush/Cheney Ohio reelection committee.
There also seems to be an abnormally high vote count for third party candidates who received less than one-half of one percent of the statewide vote total combined. For example, in precinct 4-F, the right-wing Constitutional Law candidate Peroutka received 215 votes to Bush's 21 and Kerry's 290. In this precinct, Kerry received 55% of the vote where Gore received 91% of the vote in the year 200. These numbers suggest that Kerry's votes were inadvertently or intentionally shifted to Peroutka.
In Cincinnati, sworn testimony was taken on vote buying, the lack of machines in African American neighborhoods and the deliberate destruction of new voter registration cards by a private company hired to process the forms.
Exit polls on Election Day from both the polling firm Zogby International and CNN projected John Kerry winning the state of Ohio. University of Pennsylvania Professor Steven Freeman calculated the odds that the exit polls in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania all being wrong are 250,000,000 to one. Pollster John Zogby, President of Zogby International, is quoted as telling the Inter Press Service of Stockholm that "something is definitely wrong."
Zogby commented that he was concerned about the discrepancy between the exit polls and the official vote tallies stating "We're talking about the free world here."
The Alliance for Democracy-Ohio is preparing a lawsuit challenging the outcome of Ohio's election results due to the massive voting irregularities that have emerged in sworn testimony and affidavits.
--
has a Ph.D in Political Science and a J.D. He is a lawyer working with the Alliance for Democracy-Ohio and the Editor of the Columbus Free Press. Reporting in this article also came from Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D and Joe Knapp (http://copperas.com/fcelection/wardbubble.jpg). For additional documentation, visit http://freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/900.
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:38 AM |
The Politics of Victimization
Read it and weep, and then shout, "I'm not going to take it anymore", very loudly. From Mathew Gross:
The Politics of Victimization
[Mel Gilles, who has worked for many years as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse, draws some parallels between her work and the reaction of many Democrats to the election.-- Mathew Gross]
Watch Dan Rather apologize for not getting his facts straight, humiliated before the eyes of America, voluntarily undermining his credibility and career of over thirty years. Observe Donna Brazille squirm as she is ridiculed by Bay Buchanan, and pronounced irrelevant and nearly non-existent. Listen as Donna and Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer take to the airwaves saying that they have to go back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes and try to be better, more likable, more appealing, have a stronger message, speak to morality. Watch them awkwardly quote the bible, trying to speak the new language of America. Surf the blogs, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what they did wrong. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, “Why did they beat me?”
And then ask anyone who has ever worked in a domestic violence shelter if they have heard this before.
They will tell you, every single day.
The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence.
As victims we can’t stop asking ourselves what we did wrong. We can’t seem to grasp that they will keep hitting us and beating us as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating.
Listen to George Bush say that the will of God excuses his behavior. Listen, as he refuses to take responsibility, or express remorse, or even once, admit a mistake. Watch him strut, and tell us that he will only work with those who agree with him, and that each of us is only allowed one question (soon, it will be none at all; abusers hit hard when questioned; the press corps can tell you that). See him surround himself with only those who pledge oaths of allegiance. Hear him tell us that if we will only listen and do as he says and agree with his every utterance, all will go well for us (it won’t; we will never be worthy).
And watch the Democratic Party leadership walk on eggshells, try to meet him, please him, wash the windows better, get out that spot, distance themselves from gays and civil rights. See them cry for the attention and affection and approval of the President and his followers. Watch us squirm. Watch us descend into a world of crazy-making, where logic does not work and the other side tells us we are nuts when we rely on facts. A world where, worst of all, we begin to believe we are crazy.
How to break free? Again, the answer is quite simple.
First, you must admit you are a victim. Then, you must declare the state of affairs unacceptable. Next, you must promise to protect yourself and everyone around you that is being victimized. You don’t do this by responding to their demands, or becoming more like them, or engaging in logical conversation, or trying to persuade them that you are right. You also don’t do this by going catatonic and resigned, by closing up your ears and eyes and covering your head and submitting to the blows, figuring its over faster and hurts less is you don’t resist and fight back. Instead, you walk away. You find other folks like yourself, 56 million of them, who are hurting, broken, and beating themselves up. You tell them what you’ve learned, and that you aren’t going to take it anymore. You stand tall, with 56 million people at your side and behind you, and you look right into the eyes of the abuser and you tell him to go to hell. Then you walk out the door, taking the kids and gays and minorities with you, and you start a new life. The new life is hard. But it’s better than the abuse.
We have a mandate to be as radical and liberal and steadfast as we need to be. The progressive beliefs and social justice we stand for, our core, must not be altered. We are 56 million strong. We are building from the bottom up. We are meeting, on the net, in church basements, at work, in small groups, and right now, we are crying, because we are trying to break free and we don’t know how.
Any battered woman in America, any oppressed person around the globe who has defied her oppressor will tell you this: There is nothing wrong with you. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You must change only one thing: stop responding to the abuser. Don’t let him dictate the terms or frame the debate (he’ll win, not because he’s right, but because force works). Sure, we can build a better grassroots campaign, cultivate and raise up better leaders, reform the election system to make it failproof, stick to our message, learn from the strategy of the other side. But we absolutely must dispense with the notion that we are weak, godless, cowardly, disorganized, crazy, too liberal, naive, amoral, “loose”, irrelevant, outmoded, stupid and soon to be extinct. We have the mandate of the world to back us, and the legacy of oppressed people throughout history.
Even if you do everything right, they’ll hit you anyway. Look at the poor souls who voted for this nonsense. They are working for six dollars an hour if they are working at all, their children are dying overseas and suffering from lack of health care and a depleted environment and a shoddy education. And they don’t even know they are being hit.
The Politics of Victimization
[Mel Gilles, who has worked for many years as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse, draws some parallels between her work and the reaction of many Democrats to the election.-- Mathew Gross]
Watch Dan Rather apologize for not getting his facts straight, humiliated before the eyes of America, voluntarily undermining his credibility and career of over thirty years. Observe Donna Brazille squirm as she is ridiculed by Bay Buchanan, and pronounced irrelevant and nearly non-existent. Listen as Donna and Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer take to the airwaves saying that they have to go back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes and try to be better, more likable, more appealing, have a stronger message, speak to morality. Watch them awkwardly quote the bible, trying to speak the new language of America. Surf the blogs, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what they did wrong. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, “Why did they beat me?”
And then ask anyone who has ever worked in a domestic violence shelter if they have heard this before.
They will tell you, every single day.
The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence.
As victims we can’t stop asking ourselves what we did wrong. We can’t seem to grasp that they will keep hitting us and beating us as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating.
Listen to George Bush say that the will of God excuses his behavior. Listen, as he refuses to take responsibility, or express remorse, or even once, admit a mistake. Watch him strut, and tell us that he will only work with those who agree with him, and that each of us is only allowed one question (soon, it will be none at all; abusers hit hard when questioned; the press corps can tell you that). See him surround himself with only those who pledge oaths of allegiance. Hear him tell us that if we will only listen and do as he says and agree with his every utterance, all will go well for us (it won’t; we will never be worthy).
And watch the Democratic Party leadership walk on eggshells, try to meet him, please him, wash the windows better, get out that spot, distance themselves from gays and civil rights. See them cry for the attention and affection and approval of the President and his followers. Watch us squirm. Watch us descend into a world of crazy-making, where logic does not work and the other side tells us we are nuts when we rely on facts. A world where, worst of all, we begin to believe we are crazy.
How to break free? Again, the answer is quite simple.
First, you must admit you are a victim. Then, you must declare the state of affairs unacceptable. Next, you must promise to protect yourself and everyone around you that is being victimized. You don’t do this by responding to their demands, or becoming more like them, or engaging in logical conversation, or trying to persuade them that you are right. You also don’t do this by going catatonic and resigned, by closing up your ears and eyes and covering your head and submitting to the blows, figuring its over faster and hurts less is you don’t resist and fight back. Instead, you walk away. You find other folks like yourself, 56 million of them, who are hurting, broken, and beating themselves up. You tell them what you’ve learned, and that you aren’t going to take it anymore. You stand tall, with 56 million people at your side and behind you, and you look right into the eyes of the abuser and you tell him to go to hell. Then you walk out the door, taking the kids and gays and minorities with you, and you start a new life. The new life is hard. But it’s better than the abuse.
We have a mandate to be as radical and liberal and steadfast as we need to be. The progressive beliefs and social justice we stand for, our core, must not be altered. We are 56 million strong. We are building from the bottom up. We are meeting, on the net, in church basements, at work, in small groups, and right now, we are crying, because we are trying to break free and we don’t know how.
Any battered woman in America, any oppressed person around the globe who has defied her oppressor will tell you this: There is nothing wrong with you. You are in good company. You are safe. You are not alone. You are strong. You must change only one thing: stop responding to the abuser. Don’t let him dictate the terms or frame the debate (he’ll win, not because he’s right, but because force works). Sure, we can build a better grassroots campaign, cultivate and raise up better leaders, reform the election system to make it failproof, stick to our message, learn from the strategy of the other side. But we absolutely must dispense with the notion that we are weak, godless, cowardly, disorganized, crazy, too liberal, naive, amoral, “loose”, irrelevant, outmoded, stupid and soon to be extinct. We have the mandate of the world to back us, and the legacy of oppressed people throughout history.
Even if you do everything right, they’ll hit you anyway. Look at the poor souls who voted for this nonsense. They are working for six dollars an hour if they are working at all, their children are dying overseas and suffering from lack of health care and a depleted environment and a shoddy education. And they don’t even know they are being hit.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:34 AM |
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Recipe for Fascism
Patriot Act 2, the sequal, will essentially create a police state. Here is a sampling of the act, and analysis of it, from this site:
I challenge all Americans to study the new Patriot Act and to compare it to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Ninety percent of the act has nothing to do with terrorism and is instead a giant Federal power-grab with tentacles reaching into every facet of our society. It strips American citizens of all of their rights and grants the government and its private agents total immunity. Here is a quick thumbnail sketch of just some of the draconian measures encapsulated within this tyrannical legislation...Alex Jones
SECTION 501 (Expatriation of Terrorists) expands the Bush administration's "enemy combatant" definition to all American citizens who "may" have violated any provision of Section 802 of the first Patriot Act. (Section 802 is the new definition of domestic terrorism, and the definition is "any action that endangers human life that is a violation of any Federal or State law.") Section 501 of the second Patriot Act directly connects to Section 125 of the same act. The Justice Department boldly claims that the incredibly broad Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act isn't broad enough and that a new, unlimited definition of terrorism is needed.
Under Section 501 a US citizen engaging in lawful activities can be grabbed off the street and thrown into a van never to be seen again. The Justice Department states that they can do this because the person "had inferred from conduct" that they were not a US citizen. Remember Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act states that any violation of Federal or State law can result in the "enemy combatant" terrorist designation.
SECTION 201 of the second Patriot Act makes it a criminal act for any member of the government or any citizen to release any information concerning the incarceration or whereabouts of detainees. It also states that law enforcement does not even have to tell the press who they have arrested and they never have to release the names.
SECTION 301 and 306 (Terrorist Identification Database) set up a national database of "suspected terrorists" and radically expand the database to include anyone associated with suspected terrorist groups and anyone involved in crimes or having supported any group designated as "terrorist." These sections also set up a national DNA database for anyone on probation or who has been on probation for any crime, and orders State governments to collect the DNA for the Federal government.
SECTION 312 gives immunity to law enforcement engaging in spying operations against the American people and would place substantial restrictions on court injunctions against Federal violations of civil rights across the board.
SECTION 101 will designate individual terrorists as foreign powers and again strip them of all rights under the "enemy combatant" designation.
SECTION 102 states clearly that any information gathering, regardless of whether or not those activities are illegal, can be considered to be clandestine intelligence activities for a foreign power. This makes news gathering illegal.
I challenge all Americans to study the new Patriot Act and to compare it to the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Ninety percent of the act has nothing to do with terrorism and is instead a giant Federal power-grab with tentacles reaching into every facet of our society. It strips American citizens of all of their rights and grants the government and its private agents total immunity. Here is a quick thumbnail sketch of just some of the draconian measures encapsulated within this tyrannical legislation...Alex Jones
SECTION 501 (Expatriation of Terrorists) expands the Bush administration's "enemy combatant" definition to all American citizens who "may" have violated any provision of Section 802 of the first Patriot Act. (Section 802 is the new definition of domestic terrorism, and the definition is "any action that endangers human life that is a violation of any Federal or State law.") Section 501 of the second Patriot Act directly connects to Section 125 of the same act. The Justice Department boldly claims that the incredibly broad Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act isn't broad enough and that a new, unlimited definition of terrorism is needed.
Under Section 501 a US citizen engaging in lawful activities can be grabbed off the street and thrown into a van never to be seen again. The Justice Department states that they can do this because the person "had inferred from conduct" that they were not a US citizen. Remember Section 802 of the First USA Patriot Act states that any violation of Federal or State law can result in the "enemy combatant" terrorist designation.
SECTION 201 of the second Patriot Act makes it a criminal act for any member of the government or any citizen to release any information concerning the incarceration or whereabouts of detainees. It also states that law enforcement does not even have to tell the press who they have arrested and they never have to release the names.
SECTION 301 and 306 (Terrorist Identification Database) set up a national database of "suspected terrorists" and radically expand the database to include anyone associated with suspected terrorist groups and anyone involved in crimes or having supported any group designated as "terrorist." These sections also set up a national DNA database for anyone on probation or who has been on probation for any crime, and orders State governments to collect the DNA for the Federal government.
SECTION 312 gives immunity to law enforcement engaging in spying operations against the American people and would place substantial restrictions on court injunctions against Federal violations of civil rights across the board.
SECTION 101 will designate individual terrorists as foreign powers and again strip them of all rights under the "enemy combatant" designation.
SECTION 102 states clearly that any information gathering, regardless of whether or not those activities are illegal, can be considered to be clandestine intelligence activities for a foreign power. This makes news gathering illegal.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:05 PM |
Napalm in Falluja?
This article purports the use of napalm in falluja, and a mass grave containing the bodies of women and children burned to death, just outside of Falluja:
Falluja Women, Children in Mass Grave
Residents of a village neighbouring Falluja have told Aljazeera that they helped bury the bodies of 73 women and children who were burnt to death by a US bombing attack.
"We buried them here, but we could not identify them because they were charred by the use of napalm bombs used by the Americans," said one resident of Saqlawiya in footage aired on Aljazeera on Sunday.
There have been no reports of the US military using napalm in Falluja and no independent verification of the claims.
The resident told Aljazeera all the bodies were buried in a single grave.
Late last week, US troops in Falluja called on some residents who had fled the fighting to return and help bury the dead.
However, according to other residents who managed to flee the fighting after US forces entered the city, hundreds more bodies still lay in the streets and were being fed on by packs of wild dogs.
Danger zone
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Falluja remained too dangerous to secure proper retrieval and burial of corpses.
The ICRC and other relief groups
are unable to enter the city
"We could not enter Falluja city so far due to the security measures and the continuing battles," Muain Qasis, ICRC spokesman in Jordan, told Aljazeera.
When asked about the security measures, Qasis said: "In order to carry out an independent and acceptable humanitarian action, we must have guarantees ensuring the safety of the humanitarian staff.
"The humanitarian situation in Falluja city is very difficult.
"The city is still suffering shortage of public services. There is no water or electricity. There is no way to offer medical treatment for the injured families still surrounded inside the city," he added.
Detained civilians released
In related news, the US military in Falluja announced that it had released 400 of the 1450 men it had detained in the war-ravaged city.
"More than 400 detainees have since been released after being deemed non-combatants," the military said, adding that 100 more were due to be released on Sunday.
Falluja Women, Children in Mass Grave
Residents of a village neighbouring Falluja have told Aljazeera that they helped bury the bodies of 73 women and children who were burnt to death by a US bombing attack.
"We buried them here, but we could not identify them because they were charred by the use of napalm bombs used by the Americans," said one resident of Saqlawiya in footage aired on Aljazeera on Sunday.
There have been no reports of the US military using napalm in Falluja and no independent verification of the claims.
The resident told Aljazeera all the bodies were buried in a single grave.
Late last week, US troops in Falluja called on some residents who had fled the fighting to return and help bury the dead.
However, according to other residents who managed to flee the fighting after US forces entered the city, hundreds more bodies still lay in the streets and were being fed on by packs of wild dogs.
Danger zone
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Falluja remained too dangerous to secure proper retrieval and burial of corpses.
The ICRC and other relief groups
are unable to enter the city
"We could not enter Falluja city so far due to the security measures and the continuing battles," Muain Qasis, ICRC spokesman in Jordan, told Aljazeera.
When asked about the security measures, Qasis said: "In order to carry out an independent and acceptable humanitarian action, we must have guarantees ensuring the safety of the humanitarian staff.
"The humanitarian situation in Falluja city is very difficult.
"The city is still suffering shortage of public services. There is no water or electricity. There is no way to offer medical treatment for the injured families still surrounded inside the city," he added.
Detained civilians released
In related news, the US military in Falluja announced that it had released 400 of the 1450 men it had detained in the war-ravaged city.
"More than 400 detainees have since been released after being deemed non-combatants," the military said, adding that 100 more were due to be released on Sunday.
# posted by scorpiorising : 5:34 PM |
Saturday, November 20, 2004
A letter to John Kerry
For what it's worth:
Dear Mr. Kerry, I supported you for president of the United States. However, I am deeply disappointed with your actions post election. In your video statement posted on your campaign web site regarding health care for children , you make reference to the post election vote count, when you say, and I quote, "...once all of the votes are counted, and believe me they will be counted" This is a bizarre statement in and of itself, given that you have done little to make sure every vote is being counted. Ken Blackwell, Secretary of State of Ohio, has had his way in terms of delaying the recount with not a peep from you on this, Mr. Kerry. Besides, I never trust anyone who says, "Believe me..." Why should I believe you Mr. Kerry? If you were actually doing the work, you wouldn't have to ask us to believe you; you would be doing the work. I don't hear Beverly Harris asking, "Believe me". She simply does the work, and reports it to us.
So yes, the video and memo appear self-serving. It is a no lose issue for you, Mr. Kerry. You will introduce the legislation on health care for children, and it will likely fail, but you will look like a hero fighting for it. You appear to be moving to consolidate your support for another run. In the meantime...Mr. Kerry, are the votes being counted? Really? You make a statement in the video in support of a reformed election process. If you believe in this post election, Mr. Kerry, why not indicate what exactly is bothering you about this election, Mr. Kerry? Here is your statement from the video: Regardless of the outcome of this election, once all of the votes are counted, and believe me, they will be counted, we will continue to challenge this administration. This is not a time for democrats to retreat and accomodate extremists on critical principals. It is time to stand firm. I'm going to fight for national standards for federal elections, standards that have both transparency and accountability in our voting system. It is unacceptable in the U.S.of A. that people still don't have full confidence in the integrity of the voting process. I ask you to join me in this cause. It is time to stand firm now, and commit your resources to making sure all of the votes are counted, Mr. Kerry, in Ohio, and insure that anomalies are investigated in Florida and elsewhere. If not now when, Mr. Kerry? You know, when you introduce legislation to reform the election process, Mr. Kerry, "they" are going to ask you why you didn't challenge the process directly, if you think it needs reforming, when you had a chance. One the one hand, you ask us to stand firm against extremists, yet what happened to your army of lawyers on the day after the election? Did you turn your boat to face the "enemy"? In what must be a period of evaluation for you, are you realizing just how smart your "enemy" is? Time is running out Mr. Kerry. We only have our democracy to lose.
Dear Mr. Kerry, I supported you for president of the United States. However, I am deeply disappointed with your actions post election. In your video statement posted on your campaign web site regarding health care for children , you make reference to the post election vote count, when you say, and I quote, "...once all of the votes are counted, and believe me they will be counted" This is a bizarre statement in and of itself, given that you have done little to make sure every vote is being counted. Ken Blackwell, Secretary of State of Ohio, has had his way in terms of delaying the recount with not a peep from you on this, Mr. Kerry. Besides, I never trust anyone who says, "Believe me..." Why should I believe you Mr. Kerry? If you were actually doing the work, you wouldn't have to ask us to believe you; you would be doing the work. I don't hear Beverly Harris asking, "Believe me". She simply does the work, and reports it to us.
So yes, the video and memo appear self-serving. It is a no lose issue for you, Mr. Kerry. You will introduce the legislation on health care for children, and it will likely fail, but you will look like a hero fighting for it. You appear to be moving to consolidate your support for another run. In the meantime...Mr. Kerry, are the votes being counted? Really? You make a statement in the video in support of a reformed election process. If you believe in this post election, Mr. Kerry, why not indicate what exactly is bothering you about this election, Mr. Kerry? Here is your statement from the video: Regardless of the outcome of this election, once all of the votes are counted, and believe me, they will be counted, we will continue to challenge this administration. This is not a time for democrats to retreat and accomodate extremists on critical principals. It is time to stand firm. I'm going to fight for national standards for federal elections, standards that have both transparency and accountability in our voting system. It is unacceptable in the U.S.of A. that people still don't have full confidence in the integrity of the voting process. I ask you to join me in this cause. It is time to stand firm now, and commit your resources to making sure all of the votes are counted, Mr. Kerry, in Ohio, and insure that anomalies are investigated in Florida and elsewhere. If not now when, Mr. Kerry? You know, when you introduce legislation to reform the election process, Mr. Kerry, "they" are going to ask you why you didn't challenge the process directly, if you think it needs reforming, when you had a chance. One the one hand, you ask us to stand firm against extremists, yet what happened to your army of lawyers on the day after the election? Did you turn your boat to face the "enemy"? In what must be a period of evaluation for you, are you realizing just how smart your "enemy" is? Time is running out Mr. Kerry. We only have our democracy to lose.
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:23 PM |
Lawyers to file suit in Ohio
From www.freepress.org:
Ohio Presidential Results to be Challenged
by Steven Rosenfeld
November 20, 2004
Ohio’s 2004 presidential vote will be challenged as soon as next week in the state Supreme Court, a coalition of public-interest lawyers announced Friday.
The lawyers have taken sworn testimony from hundreds of people in hearings in Columbus and Cincinnati, and will use excerpts as well as documents obtained from county election officials and Election Day exit polls to make a case that thousands of votes were incorrectly counted or not counted on Election Day.
“The objective is to get to the truth,” said Columbus Ohio lawyer Cliff Arnebeck, coordinator of the Ohio Honest Elections Campaign. “What’s critically important, whether it’s President Bush or Sen. Kerry, whoever’s been elected actually elected, is to know you won by an honest election. So it’s in the interest of both sides as American citizens to know the truth and have this answered.”
The challenge comes as the Green Party has plans to file for a recount of the state’s 2004 presidential vote. The Green Party and the Ohio Honest Elections Campaign both believe the unofficial results announced on Election Day were wrong. Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has not yet certified the Nov. 2 vote. The state’s election law says an election challenge must show the wrong candidate was been declared the winner, or it can be dismissed without a hearing. The state Supreme Court’s chief justice hears the case.
The Ohio Republican Party dismissed the challenge on Friday, the Associated Press reported, but the coalition announcing it said they were ready to litigate.
“
Ohio Presidential Results to be Challenged
by Steven Rosenfeld
November 20, 2004
Ohio’s 2004 presidential vote will be challenged as soon as next week in the state Supreme Court, a coalition of public-interest lawyers announced Friday.
The lawyers have taken sworn testimony from hundreds of people in hearings in Columbus and Cincinnati, and will use excerpts as well as documents obtained from county election officials and Election Day exit polls to make a case that thousands of votes were incorrectly counted or not counted on Election Day.
“The objective is to get to the truth,” said Columbus Ohio lawyer Cliff Arnebeck, coordinator of the Ohio Honest Elections Campaign. “What’s critically important, whether it’s President Bush or Sen. Kerry, whoever’s been elected actually elected, is to know you won by an honest election. So it’s in the interest of both sides as American citizens to know the truth and have this answered.”
The challenge comes as the Green Party has plans to file for a recount of the state’s 2004 presidential vote. The Green Party and the Ohio Honest Elections Campaign both believe the unofficial results announced on Election Day were wrong. Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has not yet certified the Nov. 2 vote. The state’s election law says an election challenge must show the wrong candidate was been declared the winner, or it can be dismissed without a hearing. The state Supreme Court’s chief justice hears the case.
The Ohio Republican Party dismissed the challenge on Friday, the Associated Press reported, but the coalition announcing it said they were ready to litigate.
“
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:21 PM |
Black Commentator hits home.
The black commentator has some of the hardest hitting commentary around, regarding the disenfranchisement of possibly millions of voters in the election, and John Kerry Missing In Action from this battle:
The Greens, who don’t stand to win anything except the respect and admiration of all decent people, raised nearly $150,000 in only four days to challenge George Bush’s unofficial 136,000 vote margin in each of Ohio’s poll precincts. Kerry had the same option and plenty of cash on hand ($15 million in unspent campaign funds), but took the Skull and Bones path, fearing a contested outcome might damage the legitimacy of a system that he values just as dearly as his erstwhile opponent, George Bush – Black voters be damned. There is no law against making a concession speech and getting a recount, but oligarchs like Kerry treasure stability above all else – it keeps them on top.
There was a small brouhaha today on Dailykos over an email sent out by Kerry, first with his campaign letterhead, then the same email sent out with his senatorial letterhead. The author of that particular diary on dailykos questioned the legality of using campaign funds for senatorial legislation pr. Valid point. The memo and video, posted on Kerry's campaign web site, promotes Kerry's "sign a pledge" petition to back-up legislation he says he will introduce when the new session starts next year, to provide health care in the U.S. for all children.
The video is a must see for anyone deigning to fathom the mind and soul of John Kerry post-election. In the video, Kerry makes reference to the post election vote count, when he says, and I quote, "...once all of the votes are counted, and believe me they will be counted" This is a bizaar statement in and of itself, given that Kerry has done little to make sure every vote is being counted, and Ken Blackwell, Secretary of State of Ohio, has had his way in terms of delaying the recount with not a peep from Kerry on this.
Besides, I never trust anyone who says, "Believe me..." Why should I believe you Mr. Kerry? If you were actually doing the work, you wouldn't have to ask us to believe you; you would be doing the work. I don't hear Beverly Harris asking, "Believe me". She simply does the work, and reports it to us.
So yes, the video and memo appear self-serving. It is a no lose issue for Kerry. He will introduce the legislation, and it will likely fail, but he will look like a hero fighting for it. He is moving to consolidate his support for another run. In the meantime...Mr. Kerry, are the votes being counted? Really?
He makes a statement in the video in support of a reformed election process. If he believes in this post election, why not indicate what exactly is bothering you about this election, Mr. Kerry?
Here is his statement from the video:
Regardless of the outcome of this election, once all of the votes are counted, and believe me, they will be counted, we will continue to challenge this administration. This is not a time for democrats to retreat and accomodate extremists on critical principals. It is time to stand firm. I'm going to fight for national standards for federal elections, standards that have both transparency and accountability in our voting system. It is unacceptable in the U.S.of A. that people still don't have full confidence in the integrity of the voting process. I ask you to join me in this cause.
It is time to stand firm now, and commit your resources to making sure all of the votes are counted, Mr. Kerry, in Ohio, and anomolies are investigated in Florida and elsewhere. If not now when, Mr. Kerry? You know, when you introduce legislation to reform the election process, Mr. Kerry, "they" are going to ask you why you didn't challenge the process directly, if you think it needs reforming, when you had a chance. Time is running out Mr. Kerry. We only have our democracy to lose.
The Greens, who don’t stand to win anything except the respect and admiration of all decent people, raised nearly $150,000 in only four days to challenge George Bush’s unofficial 136,000 vote margin in each of Ohio’s poll precincts. Kerry had the same option and plenty of cash on hand ($15 million in unspent campaign funds), but took the Skull and Bones path, fearing a contested outcome might damage the legitimacy of a system that he values just as dearly as his erstwhile opponent, George Bush – Black voters be damned. There is no law against making a concession speech and getting a recount, but oligarchs like Kerry treasure stability above all else – it keeps them on top.
There was a small brouhaha today on Dailykos over an email sent out by Kerry, first with his campaign letterhead, then the same email sent out with his senatorial letterhead. The author of that particular diary on dailykos questioned the legality of using campaign funds for senatorial legislation pr. Valid point. The memo and video, posted on Kerry's campaign web site, promotes Kerry's "sign a pledge" petition to back-up legislation he says he will introduce when the new session starts next year, to provide health care in the U.S. for all children.
The video is a must see for anyone deigning to fathom the mind and soul of John Kerry post-election. In the video, Kerry makes reference to the post election vote count, when he says, and I quote, "...once all of the votes are counted, and believe me they will be counted" This is a bizaar statement in and of itself, given that Kerry has done little to make sure every vote is being counted, and Ken Blackwell, Secretary of State of Ohio, has had his way in terms of delaying the recount with not a peep from Kerry on this.
Besides, I never trust anyone who says, "Believe me..." Why should I believe you Mr. Kerry? If you were actually doing the work, you wouldn't have to ask us to believe you; you would be doing the work. I don't hear Beverly Harris asking, "Believe me". She simply does the work, and reports it to us.
So yes, the video and memo appear self-serving. It is a no lose issue for Kerry. He will introduce the legislation, and it will likely fail, but he will look like a hero fighting for it. He is moving to consolidate his support for another run. In the meantime...Mr. Kerry, are the votes being counted? Really?
He makes a statement in the video in support of a reformed election process. If he believes in this post election, why not indicate what exactly is bothering you about this election, Mr. Kerry?
Here is his statement from the video:
Regardless of the outcome of this election, once all of the votes are counted, and believe me, they will be counted, we will continue to challenge this administration. This is not a time for democrats to retreat and accomodate extremists on critical principals. It is time to stand firm. I'm going to fight for national standards for federal elections, standards that have both transparency and accountability in our voting system. It is unacceptable in the U.S.of A. that people still don't have full confidence in the integrity of the voting process. I ask you to join me in this cause.
It is time to stand firm now, and commit your resources to making sure all of the votes are counted, Mr. Kerry, in Ohio, and anomolies are investigated in Florida and elsewhere. If not now when, Mr. Kerry? You know, when you introduce legislation to reform the election process, Mr. Kerry, "they" are going to ask you why you didn't challenge the process directly, if you think it needs reforming, when you had a chance. Time is running out Mr. Kerry. We only have our democracy to lose.
# posted by scorpiorising : 9:16 AM |
Destroying evidence in Florida
Thom Hartmann, in this article, shares a remarkable account regarding Beverly Harris's efforts, www.blackboxvoting.org, in Volusia County, Florida. She found garbage bags full of original computer tapes from the evoting machines:
Bev showed up bright and early the morning of Wednesday the 17th - well before the scheduled meeting - and discovered three of the elections officials in the Elections Warehouse standing over a table covered with what looked like poll tapes. When they saw Bev and her friends, Bev told me in a telephone interview less than an hour later, "They immediately shoved us out and slammed the door."
In a way, that was a blessing, because it led to the stinking evidence.
"On the porch was a garbage bag," Bev said, "and so I looked in it and, and lo and behold, there were public record tapes."
Thrown away. Discarded. Waiting to be hauled off.
"It was technically stinking, in fact," Bev added, "because what they had done was to have thrown some of their polling tapes, which are the official records of the election, into the garbage. These were the ones signed by the poll workers. These are something we had done an official public records request for."
When the elections officials inside realized that the people outside were going through the trash, they called the police and one came out to challenge Bev.
Kathleen Wynne, a www.blackboxvoting.org investigator, was there.
"We caught the whole thing on videotape," she said. "I don't think you'll ever see anything like this - Bev Harris having a tug of war with an election worker over a bag of garbage, and he held onto it and she pulled on it, and it split right open, spilling out those poll tapes. They were throwing away our democracy, and Bev wasn't going to let them do it."
...and local news in Volusia county is beginning to take notice of Beverly Harris:
Watchdog Group Focuses on Optical Scan Voting
By CINDY F. CRAWFORD
Staff Writer
Last update: November 19, 2004
After finding voting documents from Nov. 2 in trash cans behind two county buildings, a national watchdog group has named Volusia County one of its top priorities for investigation in the country.
Bev Harris, founder of Black Box Voting, a Seattle-based organization of elections activists, said Thursday her group is forming a team of investigators and attorneys to look into possible voting irregularities in Volusia County.
Their interest was piqued when representatives found polling place tapes, which show a printed record of ballots fed into optical scanning machines, in the garbage at the Department of Elections' warehouse on State Road 44 in DeLand and at the office behind the county administration building in downtown DeLand.
"Finding the tape in the garbage was beyond comical," Harris said in a phone interview. "The American people want an answer."
Elections Supervisor Deanie Lowe said the tapes were duplicates and the originals are still available for anyone to see. She said the duplicates provide a backup voting record as a safeguard.
Today, Black Box Voting representatives plan to officially request a hand-count in Volusia County to see the ballots in at least 50 precincts. That could involve election officials holding up thousands of ballots individually for those in the audience to see.
The exact precincts have not been listed, so the number counted could vary.
Black Box Voting has requested voting records from election offices in every county in the country, but has focused on the counties that use a specific type of optical scanning machine, Harris said. Thousands of volunteers have signed up to audit those records and make sure election totals match voter tallies on polling place tapes.
Representatives picked up 1,115 copies of Volusia County's receipt-like tapes late Wednesday. They paid $127 for the documents.
Black Box Voting could use the information to challenge an election, Harris said.
cindy.crawford@news-jrnl.com
Bev showed up bright and early the morning of Wednesday the 17th - well before the scheduled meeting - and discovered three of the elections officials in the Elections Warehouse standing over a table covered with what looked like poll tapes. When they saw Bev and her friends, Bev told me in a telephone interview less than an hour later, "They immediately shoved us out and slammed the door."
In a way, that was a blessing, because it led to the stinking evidence.
"On the porch was a garbage bag," Bev said, "and so I looked in it and, and lo and behold, there were public record tapes."
Thrown away. Discarded. Waiting to be hauled off.
"It was technically stinking, in fact," Bev added, "because what they had done was to have thrown some of their polling tapes, which are the official records of the election, into the garbage. These were the ones signed by the poll workers. These are something we had done an official public records request for."
When the elections officials inside realized that the people outside were going through the trash, they called the police and one came out to challenge Bev.
Kathleen Wynne, a www.blackboxvoting.org investigator, was there.
"We caught the whole thing on videotape," she said. "I don't think you'll ever see anything like this - Bev Harris having a tug of war with an election worker over a bag of garbage, and he held onto it and she pulled on it, and it split right open, spilling out those poll tapes. They were throwing away our democracy, and Bev wasn't going to let them do it."
...and local news in Volusia county is beginning to take notice of Beverly Harris:
Watchdog Group Focuses on Optical Scan Voting
By CINDY F. CRAWFORD
Staff Writer
Last update: November 19, 2004
After finding voting documents from Nov. 2 in trash cans behind two county buildings, a national watchdog group has named Volusia County one of its top priorities for investigation in the country.
Bev Harris, founder of Black Box Voting, a Seattle-based organization of elections activists, said Thursday her group is forming a team of investigators and attorneys to look into possible voting irregularities in Volusia County.
Their interest was piqued when representatives found polling place tapes, which show a printed record of ballots fed into optical scanning machines, in the garbage at the Department of Elections' warehouse on State Road 44 in DeLand and at the office behind the county administration building in downtown DeLand.
"Finding the tape in the garbage was beyond comical," Harris said in a phone interview. "The American people want an answer."
Elections Supervisor Deanie Lowe said the tapes were duplicates and the originals are still available for anyone to see. She said the duplicates provide a backup voting record as a safeguard.
Today, Black Box Voting representatives plan to officially request a hand-count in Volusia County to see the ballots in at least 50 precincts. That could involve election officials holding up thousands of ballots individually for those in the audience to see.
The exact precincts have not been listed, so the number counted could vary.
Black Box Voting has requested voting records from election offices in every county in the country, but has focused on the counties that use a specific type of optical scanning machine, Harris said. Thousands of volunteers have signed up to audit those records and make sure election totals match voter tallies on polling place tapes.
Representatives picked up 1,115 copies of Volusia County's receipt-like tapes late Wednesday. They paid $127 for the documents.
Black Box Voting could use the information to challenge an election, Harris said.
cindy.crawford@news-jrnl.com
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:22 AM |
Friday, November 19, 2004
"Someone must investigate..."
Yesterday and today are busy days for election fraud news. First, this study was published yesterday by University of California at Berkley:
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1118-14.htm
The three counties where the voting anomalies were most prevalent were also the most heavily Democratic: Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, respectively. Statistical patterns in counties that did not have e-touch voting machines predict a 28,000 vote decrease in President Bush's support in Broward County; machines tallied an increase of 51,000 votes - a net gain of 81,000 for the incumbent. President Bush should have lost 8,900 votes in Palm Beach County, but instead gained 41,000 - a difference of 49,900. He should have gained only 18,400 votes in Miami-Dade County but saw a gain of 37,000 - a difference of 19,300 votes.
"For the sake of all future elections involving electronic voting - someone must investigate and explain the statistical anomalies in Florida," says Professor Michael Hout. "We're calling on voting officials in Florida to take action."
The research team is comprised of doctoral students and faculty in the UC Berkeley sociology department, and led by Sociology Professor Michael Hout, a nationally-known expert on statistical methods and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the UC Berkeley Survey Research Center.
Here, Keith Olbermann weighs in on the study:
Without attempting to crack the methodology, it’s clear the researchers claim they’ve compensated for all the bugaboos that hampered the usefulness of previous studies of the county voting results in Florida. They’ve weighted the thing to allow for an individual county’s voting record in both the 2000 and 1996 elections (throwing out the ‘Dixiecrat’ effect), to wash out issues like the varying Hispanic populations, median income, voter turnout change, and the different numbers of people voting in each county.
And they say that when you calculate all that, you are forced to conclude that compared to the Florida counties that used paper ballots, the ones that used electronic voting machines were much more likely to show “excessive votes” for Mr. Bush, and that the statistical odds of this happening organically are less than one in 1,000.
They also say that these “excessives” occurred most prominently in counties where Senator Kerry beat the President most handily. In the Democratic bastion of Broward, where Kerry won by roughly 105,000, they suggest the touch-screens “gave” the President 72,000 more votes than statistical consistency should have allowed. In Miami-Dade (Kerry by 55,000) they saw 19,300 more votes for Bush than expected. In Palm Beach (Kerry by 115,000) they claim Bush got 50,000 more votes than possible.
Hout and his research team consistently insisted they were not alleging that voting was rigged, nor even that what they’ve found actually affected the direction of Florida’s 27 Electoral Votes. They point out that in a worst-case scenario, they see 260,000 “excessives” - and Bush took the state by 350,000 votes. But they insist that based on Florida’s voting patterns in 1996 and 2000, the margin cannot be explained by successful get-out-the-vote campaigns, or income variables, or anything but something rotten in the touch screens.
It’s deep-woods mathematics, and it cries out for people who speak the language and can refute or confirm its value. Kim Zetter, who did an excellent work-up for "Wired News,"got the responses you’d expect from both sides. She quotes Susan Van Houten of Palm Beach’s Coalition for Election Reform as saying “I’ve believed the same thing for a while, that the numbers are screwy, and it looks like they proved it.” She quotes Jill Friedman-Wilson of the touch-screen manufacturer Election Systems & Software (their machines were in use in Broward and Miami-Dade) as responding “If you consider real-world experience, we know that ES&S’ touch-screen voting system has been proven in thousands of elections throughout the country.”
More news later.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1118-14.htm
The three counties where the voting anomalies were most prevalent were also the most heavily Democratic: Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, respectively. Statistical patterns in counties that did not have e-touch voting machines predict a 28,000 vote decrease in President Bush's support in Broward County; machines tallied an increase of 51,000 votes - a net gain of 81,000 for the incumbent. President Bush should have lost 8,900 votes in Palm Beach County, but instead gained 41,000 - a difference of 49,900. He should have gained only 18,400 votes in Miami-Dade County but saw a gain of 37,000 - a difference of 19,300 votes.
"For the sake of all future elections involving electronic voting - someone must investigate and explain the statistical anomalies in Florida," says Professor Michael Hout. "We're calling on voting officials in Florida to take action."
The research team is comprised of doctoral students and faculty in the UC Berkeley sociology department, and led by Sociology Professor Michael Hout, a nationally-known expert on statistical methods and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the UC Berkeley Survey Research Center.
Here, Keith Olbermann weighs in on the study:
Without attempting to crack the methodology, it’s clear the researchers claim they’ve compensated for all the bugaboos that hampered the usefulness of previous studies of the county voting results in Florida. They’ve weighted the thing to allow for an individual county’s voting record in both the 2000 and 1996 elections (throwing out the ‘Dixiecrat’ effect), to wash out issues like the varying Hispanic populations, median income, voter turnout change, and the different numbers of people voting in each county.
And they say that when you calculate all that, you are forced to conclude that compared to the Florida counties that used paper ballots, the ones that used electronic voting machines were much more likely to show “excessive votes” for Mr. Bush, and that the statistical odds of this happening organically are less than one in 1,000.
They also say that these “excessives” occurred most prominently in counties where Senator Kerry beat the President most handily. In the Democratic bastion of Broward, where Kerry won by roughly 105,000, they suggest the touch-screens “gave” the President 72,000 more votes than statistical consistency should have allowed. In Miami-Dade (Kerry by 55,000) they saw 19,300 more votes for Bush than expected. In Palm Beach (Kerry by 115,000) they claim Bush got 50,000 more votes than possible.
Hout and his research team consistently insisted they were not alleging that voting was rigged, nor even that what they’ve found actually affected the direction of Florida’s 27 Electoral Votes. They point out that in a worst-case scenario, they see 260,000 “excessives” - and Bush took the state by 350,000 votes. But they insist that based on Florida’s voting patterns in 1996 and 2000, the margin cannot be explained by successful get-out-the-vote campaigns, or income variables, or anything but something rotten in the touch screens.
It’s deep-woods mathematics, and it cries out for people who speak the language and can refute or confirm its value. Kim Zetter, who did an excellent work-up for "Wired News,"got the responses you’d expect from both sides. She quotes Susan Van Houten of Palm Beach’s Coalition for Election Reform as saying “I’ve believed the same thing for a while, that the numbers are screwy, and it looks like they proved it.” She quotes Jill Friedman-Wilson of the touch-screen manufacturer Election Systems & Software (their machines were in use in Broward and Miami-Dade) as responding “If you consider real-world experience, we know that ES&S’ touch-screen voting system has been proven in thousands of elections throughout the country.”
More news later.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:00 AM |
Thursday, November 18, 2004
R.A. Heinlein and an ailing culture
This is an interesting diary post on DailyKos, on the words of R.A. Heinlein. I've included the entire diary post, and my comment, posted at the end:
I'd read this before in Heinlein's terrific novel 'Friday,' but had forgotten it. I tripped across it online a few minutes ago, and found it struck a chord.
What are the marks of a sick culture?
It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn't the whole population.
A very bad sign. Particularism. It was once considered a Spanish vice but any country can fall sick with it. Dominance of males over females seems to be one of the symptoms.
Before a revolution can take place, the population must lose faith in both the police and the courts.
High taxation is important and so is inflation of the currency and the ratio of the productive to those on the public payroll. But that's old hat; everybody knows that a country is on the skids when its income and outgo get out of balance and stay that way - even though there are always endless attempts to wish it away by legislation. But I started looking for little signs and what some call silly-season symptoms.
I want to mention one of the obvious symptoms: Violence. Muggings. Sniping. Arson. Bombing. Terrorism of any sort. Riots of course - but I suspect that little incidents of violence, pecking away at people day after day, damage a culture even more than riots that flare up and then die down. Oh, conscription and slavery and arbitrary compulsion of all sorts and imprisonment without bail and without speedy trial - but those things are obvious; all the histories list them.
I think you have missed the most alarming symptom of all. This one I shall tell you. But go back and search for it. Examine it. Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms as you have named... But a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than a riot.
This symptom is especially serious in that an individual displaying it never thinks of it as a sign of ill health but as proof of his/her strength. Look for it. Study it.
This, I believe, is why Heinlein wrote about the future -- he had a tremendous grasp of history, and how it could repeat, to our detriment and sorrow.
To me, this hits much too close to home.
My response:
I agree with most of Heinlan's words... (none / 0)
but I have a hard time with the manners part. I suppose sometimes I feel manners can mask valid objections, even outrage, doubt and confusion, distrust. If we are too mannered to speak the truth, our truth, to each other, then what use is manners? I've noticed that speaking one's truth can occasionally involve obscenities. I see nothing wrong with this, unless one is cursing someone out. Obscenities can punctuate the truth at times. I've passionately stated my point of view, with my voice rising, never shouting though, with Bush supporters, though I can imagine there are some instances in which shouting is not only needed it is necessary.
These are difficult times, and requires some willingness to experiment with language and its presentation. Blunt words with an occasional obscenity can sometimes break through delusion and denial. This is worth a diary post in and of itself, don't you think?
Bad manners can mean different things to different people, but to me it is condescension, or ignoring others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves. So yes, in that regard, bad manners are rampant.
I'd read this before in Heinlein's terrific novel 'Friday,' but had forgotten it. I tripped across it online a few minutes ago, and found it struck a chord.
What are the marks of a sick culture?
It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn't the whole population.
A very bad sign. Particularism. It was once considered a Spanish vice but any country can fall sick with it. Dominance of males over females seems to be one of the symptoms.
Before a revolution can take place, the population must lose faith in both the police and the courts.
High taxation is important and so is inflation of the currency and the ratio of the productive to those on the public payroll. But that's old hat; everybody knows that a country is on the skids when its income and outgo get out of balance and stay that way - even though there are always endless attempts to wish it away by legislation. But I started looking for little signs and what some call silly-season symptoms.
I want to mention one of the obvious symptoms: Violence. Muggings. Sniping. Arson. Bombing. Terrorism of any sort. Riots of course - but I suspect that little incidents of violence, pecking away at people day after day, damage a culture even more than riots that flare up and then die down. Oh, conscription and slavery and arbitrary compulsion of all sorts and imprisonment without bail and without speedy trial - but those things are obvious; all the histories list them.
I think you have missed the most alarming symptom of all. This one I shall tell you. But go back and search for it. Examine it. Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms as you have named... But a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than a riot.
This symptom is especially serious in that an individual displaying it never thinks of it as a sign of ill health but as proof of his/her strength. Look for it. Study it.
This, I believe, is why Heinlein wrote about the future -- he had a tremendous grasp of history, and how it could repeat, to our detriment and sorrow.
To me, this hits much too close to home.
My response:
I agree with most of Heinlan's words... (none / 0)
but I have a hard time with the manners part. I suppose sometimes I feel manners can mask valid objections, even outrage, doubt and confusion, distrust. If we are too mannered to speak the truth, our truth, to each other, then what use is manners? I've noticed that speaking one's truth can occasionally involve obscenities. I see nothing wrong with this, unless one is cursing someone out. Obscenities can punctuate the truth at times. I've passionately stated my point of view, with my voice rising, never shouting though, with Bush supporters, though I can imagine there are some instances in which shouting is not only needed it is necessary.
These are difficult times, and requires some willingness to experiment with language and its presentation. Blunt words with an occasional obscenity can sometimes break through delusion and denial. This is worth a diary post in and of itself, don't you think?
Bad manners can mean different things to different people, but to me it is condescension, or ignoring others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves. So yes, in that regard, bad manners are rampant.
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:41 PM |
Surprise: Ohio vote in question
From Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman on www.freepress.org:
Hearings on Ohio voting put 2004 election in doubtby Bob Fitrakis & Harvey WassermanNovember 18, 2004Highly-charged, jam-packed hearings held here in Columbus have cast serious doubt on the true outcome of the presidential election. On Saturday, November 13, and Monday, November 15, the Ohio Election Protection Coalition’s public hearings in Columbus solicited extensive sworn first-person testimony from 32 of Ohio voters, precinct judges, poll workers, legal observers, party challengers. An additional 66 people provided written affidavits of election irregularities. The unavoidable conclusion is that this year's election in Ohio was deeply flawed, that thousands of Ohioans were denied their right to vote, and that the ultimate vote count is very much in doubt. Most importantly, the testimony has revealed a widespread and concerted effort on the part of Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to deny primarily African-American and young voters the right to cast their ballots within a reasonable time. By depriving precincts of adequate numbers of functioning voting machines, Blackwell created waits of three to eleven hours, driving tens of thousands of likely Democratic voters away from the polls and very likely affecting the outcome of the Ohio vote count, which in turn decided the national election.
Hearings on Ohio voting put 2004 election in doubtby Bob Fitrakis & Harvey WassermanNovember 18, 2004Highly-charged, jam-packed hearings held here in Columbus have cast serious doubt on the true outcome of the presidential election. On Saturday, November 13, and Monday, November 15, the Ohio Election Protection Coalition’s public hearings in Columbus solicited extensive sworn first-person testimony from 32 of Ohio voters, precinct judges, poll workers, legal observers, party challengers. An additional 66 people provided written affidavits of election irregularities. The unavoidable conclusion is that this year's election in Ohio was deeply flawed, that thousands of Ohioans were denied their right to vote, and that the ultimate vote count is very much in doubt. Most importantly, the testimony has revealed a widespread and concerted effort on the part of Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to deny primarily African-American and young voters the right to cast their ballots within a reasonable time. By depriving precincts of adequate numbers of functioning voting machines, Blackwell created waits of three to eleven hours, driving tens of thousands of likely Democratic voters away from the polls and very likely affecting the outcome of the Ohio vote count, which in turn decided the national election.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:42 AM |
Fuck Clinton.
I'm sick of that big dog. He's all bark and saliva right now. If there was never more of a time for a viable third party, it is now, what with Kerry pushing for the lame governor of Iowa to be DNC chair, what with Dean being marginalized again (this may be better for him in the long run), what with Kerry sitting on 15 million huchachos from his campaign fund, money that could have helped win some races, what with our "leaders" in Congress, coninuing, for the most part, to ignore electronic voting fraud, what with the arrogance and conceit of Washington insiders, even the aid for Senator Kennedy who was condescending when I called about the H1B visa bill that is going to rob Americans of even more jobs, a bill that Kennedy supports, what with the lack of spine and fight in this democratic party, and their capitulation to Bush on every issue that matters.
We are a one-party nation.
It is time for change. Now more than ever.
I am going to bug the shit out of the Kennedy office in Boston on the electronic voting fraud that stole this election. And, I am going to change my registration to "independent".
Reminder: www.blackboxvoting.org has up to the minute coverage of Beverly Harris's efforts in Volusia County in Florida. The new heroes are the nobodies, and that includes the nobody blogs and diaries on www.dailykos.com that have the courage to cover this black box voting scandal. From www.blackboxvoting.org:
There was a trash bag on the porch outside the door. Harris looked into it and what do you know, but there were poll tapes in there. They came out and glared at Harris and Wynne, who drove away a small bit, and then videotaped the license plates of the two vehicles marked 'City Council' member. Others came out to glare and soon all doors were slammed.
So, Harris and Wynne went and parked behind a bus to see what they would do next. They pulled out some large pylons, which blocked the door. Harris decided to go look at the garbage some more while Wynne videotaped. A man who identified himself as "Pete" came out and Harris immediately wrote a public records request for the contents of the garbage bag, which also contained ballots -- real ones, but not filled out.
A brief tug of war occurred, tearing the garbage bag open. Harris and Wynne then looked through it, as Pete looked on. He was quite friendly.
Black Box Voting collected various poll tapes and other information and asked if they could copy it, for the public records request. "You won't be going anywhere," said Pete. "The deputy is on his way."
Yes, not one but two police cars came up and then two county elections officials, and everyone stood around discussing the merits of the "black bag" public records request.
The police finally let Harris and Wynne go, about the time the Votergate.tv film crew arrived, and everyone trooped off to the elections office. There, the plot thickened.
Black Box Voting began to compare the special printouts given in the FOIA request with the signed polling tapes from election night. Lo and behold, some were missing. By this time, Black Box Voting investigator Andy Stephenson had joined the group at Volusia County. Some polling place tapes didn't match. In fact, in one location, precinct 215, an African-American precinct, the votes were off by hundreds, in favor of George W. Bush and other Republicans.
Hmm. Which was right? The polling tape Volusia gave to Black Box Voting, specially printed on Nov. 15, without signatures, or the ones with signatures, printed on Nov. 2, with up to 8 signatures per tape?
Well, then it became even more interesting. A Volusia employee boxed up some items from an office containing Lana Hires' desk, which appeared to contain -- you guessed it -- polling place tapes. The employee took them to the back of the building and disappeared.
Then, Ellen B., a voting integrity advocate from Broward County, Florida, and Susan, from Volusia, decided now would be a good time to go through the trash at the elections office. Lo and behold, they found all kinds of memos and some polling place tapes, fresh from Volusia elections office.
So, Black Box Voting compared these with the Nov. 2 signed ones and the "special' ones from Nov. 15 given, unsigned, finding several of the MISSING poll tapes. There they were: In the garbage.
We are a one-party nation.
It is time for change. Now more than ever.
I am going to bug the shit out of the Kennedy office in Boston on the electronic voting fraud that stole this election. And, I am going to change my registration to "independent".
Reminder: www.blackboxvoting.org has up to the minute coverage of Beverly Harris's efforts in Volusia County in Florida. The new heroes are the nobodies, and that includes the nobody blogs and diaries on www.dailykos.com that have the courage to cover this black box voting scandal. From www.blackboxvoting.org:
There was a trash bag on the porch outside the door. Harris looked into it and what do you know, but there were poll tapes in there. They came out and glared at Harris and Wynne, who drove away a small bit, and then videotaped the license plates of the two vehicles marked 'City Council' member. Others came out to glare and soon all doors were slammed.
So, Harris and Wynne went and parked behind a bus to see what they would do next. They pulled out some large pylons, which blocked the door. Harris decided to go look at the garbage some more while Wynne videotaped. A man who identified himself as "Pete" came out and Harris immediately wrote a public records request for the contents of the garbage bag, which also contained ballots -- real ones, but not filled out.
A brief tug of war occurred, tearing the garbage bag open. Harris and Wynne then looked through it, as Pete looked on. He was quite friendly.
Black Box Voting collected various poll tapes and other information and asked if they could copy it, for the public records request. "You won't be going anywhere," said Pete. "The deputy is on his way."
Yes, not one but two police cars came up and then two county elections officials, and everyone stood around discussing the merits of the "black bag" public records request.
The police finally let Harris and Wynne go, about the time the Votergate.tv film crew arrived, and everyone trooped off to the elections office. There, the plot thickened.
Black Box Voting began to compare the special printouts given in the FOIA request with the signed polling tapes from election night. Lo and behold, some were missing. By this time, Black Box Voting investigator Andy Stephenson had joined the group at Volusia County. Some polling place tapes didn't match. In fact, in one location, precinct 215, an African-American precinct, the votes were off by hundreds, in favor of George W. Bush and other Republicans.
Hmm. Which was right? The polling tape Volusia gave to Black Box Voting, specially printed on Nov. 15, without signatures, or the ones with signatures, printed on Nov. 2, with up to 8 signatures per tape?
Well, then it became even more interesting. A Volusia employee boxed up some items from an office containing Lana Hires' desk, which appeared to contain -- you guessed it -- polling place tapes. The employee took them to the back of the building and disappeared.
Then, Ellen B., a voting integrity advocate from Broward County, Florida, and Susan, from Volusia, decided now would be a good time to go through the trash at the elections office. Lo and behold, they found all kinds of memos and some polling place tapes, fresh from Volusia elections office.
So, Black Box Voting compared these with the Nov. 2 signed ones and the "special' ones from Nov. 15 given, unsigned, finding several of the MISSING poll tapes. There they were: In the garbage.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:22 AM |
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
"The republic is in eclipse"
This is a letter written to someone who posted a national review article on a forum I participate in:
<< [T]he Democratic-party elite .... portray [us] as religious bigots, racist rednecks, and generally stupid people. >>
-Mackubin Thomas Owens, National Review Online)
Dr. P,
Why is this man whining about how put upon and inferior he feels, this flack of the party that WON the election? The party that dominates every branch of American government, and owns the media? "The Democratic-party elite"? How are the Democrats elite?
Where's the elation of victory? Where's the confidence of strength? Why aren't Republicans happy?
Dr. P, do you feel the dread? The dread that something bad is going to happen? I do. It's the same feeling I had when the judiciary appointed George W president despite his loss of the popular vote in late 2000. There would be consequences when the will of the majority was thwarted. The peak event of those consequences happened nine months later.
This time, the theft of the election has been done more skillfully. Instead of general confusion and doubt, most people believe George W got 51% of the votes, even most of the majority who didn't vote for him. Only a small minority of us who were watching carefully and skeptically know with conviction that computers were hacked to reverse the results. And we can't prove it in any way that would be acceptable to the rest of you, not even to most of those on the true blue side of things, who voted for sanity and responsibility in government. It would just be too awful to most Americans to admit that our democracy has been hijacked again. Most Americans of every persuasion would rather pretend that everything is fine, the republic still stands.
But the fact remains that the will of the majority has been thwarted again. The republic is in eclipse. Something bad is going to happen. Republicans know it, too; that's why they're not happy. You can't trick reality. You can't fool Mother Nature. You can't pretend everything's alright when it's not. Not for long, anyway. Dread.
You should beg your boy Mason to stay out of the military.
Good luck,
J
<< [T]he Democratic-party elite .... portray [us] as religious bigots, racist rednecks, and generally stupid people. >>
-Mackubin Thomas Owens, National Review Online)
Dr. P,
Why is this man whining about how put upon and inferior he feels, this flack of the party that WON the election? The party that dominates every branch of American government, and owns the media? "The Democratic-party elite"? How are the Democrats elite?
Where's the elation of victory? Where's the confidence of strength? Why aren't Republicans happy?
Dr. P, do you feel the dread? The dread that something bad is going to happen? I do. It's the same feeling I had when the judiciary appointed George W president despite his loss of the popular vote in late 2000. There would be consequences when the will of the majority was thwarted. The peak event of those consequences happened nine months later.
This time, the theft of the election has been done more skillfully. Instead of general confusion and doubt, most people believe George W got 51% of the votes, even most of the majority who didn't vote for him. Only a small minority of us who were watching carefully and skeptically know with conviction that computers were hacked to reverse the results. And we can't prove it in any way that would be acceptable to the rest of you, not even to most of those on the true blue side of things, who voted for sanity and responsibility in government. It would just be too awful to most Americans to admit that our democracy has been hijacked again. Most Americans of every persuasion would rather pretend that everything is fine, the republic still stands.
But the fact remains that the will of the majority has been thwarted again. The republic is in eclipse. Something bad is going to happen. Republicans know it, too; that's why they're not happy. You can't trick reality. You can't fool Mother Nature. You can't pretend everything's alright when it's not. Not for long, anyway. Dread.
You should beg your boy Mason to stay out of the military.
Good luck,
J
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:07 AM |
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
More on the lockdown of Warren County
From http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/10/1536254
AMY GOODMAN: Can you summarize your piece in today's Cincinnati Enquirer?
ERICA SOLVIG: Well, the story that ran today is reiterating the County Commissioner’s stance of Homeland Security concerns. They say, as you have already mentioned, that the county was facing a terrorist threat that ranked 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. We talked to several officials with the homeland security department as well as the FBI. They knew of no increased terrorism concerns in Warren County in particular, and just, again, raising the continuing concerns regarding Homeland Security and being locked out of the building. The primary focus of all of the articles has been on, you know, the First Amendment issues and the open government issues that are raised when the public and the media are locked out of the process.
AMY GOODMAN: You have interviewed a number of people for your pieces; among them was a news director at a local TV station?
ERICA SOLVIG: That's correct.
AMY GOODMAN: What did he say?
ERICA SOLVIG: He called this a red herring. Bob Moreford, the News Director at channel 9, CWPO TV, the ABC affiliate here said he had never seen anything like it, and WCPO as well as the Associated Press and the Inquirer all received the same response when they tried to get into the building on election night, and that was being locked out. Moreford said that he considered it a red herring. He continued to say, “That’s something that's put up when you don't know what else to put up to keep us out.”
AMY GOODMAN: We're taking a look at Keith Olbermann's blog from MSNBC. He was quoting the statement given out by Warren County Commissioner Pat South to MSNBC. You have also been quoting her a great deal. It's quite a remarkable quote. It says, “About three weeks prior to elections, our emergency services department had been receiving quite a few pieces of correspondence from the office of Homeland Security on the upcoming elections. These memos were sent out statewide, not just to Warren County, and they included a lot of planning tools and resources to use for Election Day security.” Pat South went on to say, “In a face-to-face meeting between the FBI and our director of Emergency Services, we were informed that on a scale from 1 to 10, the tri-state area of southwest Ohio was ranked at a high 8 to a low 9, in terms of security risk. Warren County in particular was rated at 10, 10 being the top highest risk. Pursuant to the Ohio-revised code, we followed the law to the letter that basically says no one is allowed within 100 feet of a polling place except for voters, and that after the polls closed, the only people allowed in the Board of Elections area where votes are being counted are the Board of Election members, judges, clerks, poll challengers, police, and that no one other than those people can be there while tabulation is taking place.” And yet, Erica Solvig, now the Department of Homeland Security and FBI are denying that they ever talked about a security risk here?
ERICA SOLVIG: They're saying that they were not aware of any increased security risk in Warren County on Election Day. The county has declined to give us the agent's name who told them this, because they haven't talked to this agent - this is an FBI agent - anytime recently. But the Homeland Security officials that we have talked to in the area, as well as the FBI, are unaware of any increased security risk on Election Day. Again, the primary concern was being locked out of a public building on a night when the entire nation was watching, waiting for the results.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you summarize your piece in today's Cincinnati Enquirer?
ERICA SOLVIG: Well, the story that ran today is reiterating the County Commissioner’s stance of Homeland Security concerns. They say, as you have already mentioned, that the county was facing a terrorist threat that ranked 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. We talked to several officials with the homeland security department as well as the FBI. They knew of no increased terrorism concerns in Warren County in particular, and just, again, raising the continuing concerns regarding Homeland Security and being locked out of the building. The primary focus of all of the articles has been on, you know, the First Amendment issues and the open government issues that are raised when the public and the media are locked out of the process.
AMY GOODMAN: You have interviewed a number of people for your pieces; among them was a news director at a local TV station?
ERICA SOLVIG: That's correct.
AMY GOODMAN: What did he say?
ERICA SOLVIG: He called this a red herring. Bob Moreford, the News Director at channel 9, CWPO TV, the ABC affiliate here said he had never seen anything like it, and WCPO as well as the Associated Press and the Inquirer all received the same response when they tried to get into the building on election night, and that was being locked out. Moreford said that he considered it a red herring. He continued to say, “That’s something that's put up when you don't know what else to put up to keep us out.”
AMY GOODMAN: We're taking a look at Keith Olbermann's blog from MSNBC. He was quoting the statement given out by Warren County Commissioner Pat South to MSNBC. You have also been quoting her a great deal. It's quite a remarkable quote. It says, “About three weeks prior to elections, our emergency services department had been receiving quite a few pieces of correspondence from the office of Homeland Security on the upcoming elections. These memos were sent out statewide, not just to Warren County, and they included a lot of planning tools and resources to use for Election Day security.” Pat South went on to say, “In a face-to-face meeting between the FBI and our director of Emergency Services, we were informed that on a scale from 1 to 10, the tri-state area of southwest Ohio was ranked at a high 8 to a low 9, in terms of security risk. Warren County in particular was rated at 10, 10 being the top highest risk. Pursuant to the Ohio-revised code, we followed the law to the letter that basically says no one is allowed within 100 feet of a polling place except for voters, and that after the polls closed, the only people allowed in the Board of Elections area where votes are being counted are the Board of Election members, judges, clerks, poll challengers, police, and that no one other than those people can be there while tabulation is taking place.” And yet, Erica Solvig, now the Department of Homeland Security and FBI are denying that they ever talked about a security risk here?
ERICA SOLVIG: They're saying that they were not aware of any increased security risk in Warren County on Election Day. The county has declined to give us the agent's name who told them this, because they haven't talked to this agent - this is an FBI agent - anytime recently. But the Homeland Security officials that we have talked to in the area, as well as the FBI, are unaware of any increased security risk on Election Day. Again, the primary concern was being locked out of a public building on a night when the entire nation was watching, waiting for the results.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:54 AM |
Not enough voting machines in Colombus, Ohio
Was it a plot, a strategy? From www.freepress.org
Columns Bob Fitrakis
Document reveals Columbus, Ohio voters waited hours as election officials held back machines
November 16, 2004
One telling piece of evidence was entered into the record at the Saturday, November 13 public hearing on election irregularities and voter suppression held by nonpartisan voter rights organizations. Cliff Arnebeck, a Common Cause attorney, introduced into the record the Franklin County Board of Elections spreadsheet detailing the allocation of e-voting computer machines for the 2004 election. The Board of Elections’ own document records that, while voters waited in lines ranging from 2-7 hours at polling places, 68 electronic voting machines remained in storage and were never used on Election Day...
...The legendary affluent Republican enclave of Upper Arlington has 34 precincts. No voting machines in this area cast more than 200 votes per machine. Only one, ward 6F, was over 190 votes at 194 on one machine. By contrast, 39 Columbus city polling machines had more than 200 votes per machine and 42 were over 190 votes per machine. This means 17% of Columbus’ machines were operating at 90-100% over optimum capacity while in Upper Arlington the figure was 3%.
Columns Bob Fitrakis
Document reveals Columbus, Ohio voters waited hours as election officials held back machines
November 16, 2004
One telling piece of evidence was entered into the record at the Saturday, November 13 public hearing on election irregularities and voter suppression held by nonpartisan voter rights organizations. Cliff Arnebeck, a Common Cause attorney, introduced into the record the Franklin County Board of Elections spreadsheet detailing the allocation of e-voting computer machines for the 2004 election. The Board of Elections’ own document records that, while voters waited in lines ranging from 2-7 hours at polling places, 68 electronic voting machines remained in storage and were never used on Election Day...
...The legendary affluent Republican enclave of Upper Arlington has 34 precincts. No voting machines in this area cast more than 200 votes per machine. Only one, ward 6F, was over 190 votes at 194 on one machine. By contrast, 39 Columbus city polling machines had more than 200 votes per machine and 42 were over 190 votes per machine. This means 17% of Columbus’ machines were operating at 90-100% over optimum capacity while in Upper Arlington the figure was 3%.
# posted by scorpiorising : 8:21 AM |
The Headlines tell the illusion.
The headlines in the New York Times yesterday tell the story of the media's complicit support of this war, and its support of the offensive against Falluja, specifically. Some of yesterday's headlines read like a diary of anything but reality: The headline "Raids in the Mosul Region Undermine Value of Victories" positively scream Orwellian doublthink.
First of all it assumes there was "value" in the "victory" in Falluja, and, it assumes there was a "victory" in Fallulja. Rational heads, even within the story, realize the "insurgents" moved on to different territories, and the only thing "won" was a largely empty, destroyed city. The headline begs this question: how can the value of a victory be undermined if it was never a victory to begin with? I suppose it all rests with how you define "victory". Contrary to Pentagon thinking heads, a victory does not mean a show of force. Drop all the bombs you want on Falluja, the insugency continues.
There is this quote from the story, from an Iraqi man in Mosul:
A professor who was visiting from the United Arab Emirates, Momen Khalaf Othman, said his brother-in-law had been killed in a clash at the start of the uprising, and his family saw gunmen wandering the cemetery as they buried the body.
"What you hear isn't at all like what you see with your own eyes," he said. "I saw three bodies on the ground that no one had buried, and I noticed that one of those bodies had been half-eaten by dogs."
Let me repeat his words: "What you hear isn't at all like what you see with your own eyes". He is reciting a universal truth, and an aside that serves as a condemnation of the media blackout of this war. What you hear from the American press isn't at all like what you would see if you were in Iraq.
Then there is this headline: A Goal is Met; What's Next? . Apparently, it was the goal to route the insurgents from Falluja, only, they've gone elsewhere, and within hours, launched massive counterattacks in Mosul. The article claims upwards of 1600 insurgents were killed in the Falluja offensive. Was that the goal? Kill as many as possible and hope for the best? There is this paragraph from the article, and I note there is not a hint of droll irony:
The offensive also shut down what officers said was a propaganda weapon for the militants: Falluja General Hospital, with its stream of reports of civilian casualties.
But American and Iraqi officials still face daunting tasks in the aftermath of retaking the city.
"Falluja clearly will require a lot of effort even after the final pocket of insurgents is eliminated in the city," one senior American general in Iraq said in an e-mail message on Sunday. "Lots of challenges - infrastructure, basic needs for returnees, security forces, and governance, not to mention elections. Assume the insurgents will continue to try to make life tough there as well."
Apparently, civilian casualty reports are propaganda weapons, and destroying a hospital, is akin to destroying a "propaganda weapon". Did the thought cross the mind of that reporter, Eric Schmitt, that it is within the definition of ethical journalist, to request, indeed, to demand a casualty report in Falluja as the right of Americans to know the full truth?
First of all it assumes there was "value" in the "victory" in Falluja, and, it assumes there was a "victory" in Fallulja. Rational heads, even within the story, realize the "insurgents" moved on to different territories, and the only thing "won" was a largely empty, destroyed city. The headline begs this question: how can the value of a victory be undermined if it was never a victory to begin with? I suppose it all rests with how you define "victory". Contrary to Pentagon thinking heads, a victory does not mean a show of force. Drop all the bombs you want on Falluja, the insugency continues.
There is this quote from the story, from an Iraqi man in Mosul:
A professor who was visiting from the United Arab Emirates, Momen Khalaf Othman, said his brother-in-law had been killed in a clash at the start of the uprising, and his family saw gunmen wandering the cemetery as they buried the body.
"What you hear isn't at all like what you see with your own eyes," he said. "I saw three bodies on the ground that no one had buried, and I noticed that one of those bodies had been half-eaten by dogs."
Let me repeat his words: "What you hear isn't at all like what you see with your own eyes". He is reciting a universal truth, and an aside that serves as a condemnation of the media blackout of this war. What you hear from the American press isn't at all like what you would see if you were in Iraq.
Then there is this headline: A Goal is Met; What's Next? . Apparently, it was the goal to route the insurgents from Falluja, only, they've gone elsewhere, and within hours, launched massive counterattacks in Mosul. The article claims upwards of 1600 insurgents were killed in the Falluja offensive. Was that the goal? Kill as many as possible and hope for the best? There is this paragraph from the article, and I note there is not a hint of droll irony:
The offensive also shut down what officers said was a propaganda weapon for the militants: Falluja General Hospital, with its stream of reports of civilian casualties.
But American and Iraqi officials still face daunting tasks in the aftermath of retaking the city.
"Falluja clearly will require a lot of effort even after the final pocket of insurgents is eliminated in the city," one senior American general in Iraq said in an e-mail message on Sunday. "Lots of challenges - infrastructure, basic needs for returnees, security forces, and governance, not to mention elections. Assume the insurgents will continue to try to make life tough there as well."
Apparently, civilian casualty reports are propaganda weapons, and destroying a hospital, is akin to destroying a "propaganda weapon". Did the thought cross the mind of that reporter, Eric Schmitt, that it is within the definition of ethical journalist, to request, indeed, to demand a casualty report in Falluja as the right of Americans to know the full truth?
# posted by scorpiorising : 7:08 AM |
All manner of men...
Originally published in the Post Gazette, Pittsburgh, November 14, 2004:
Pistorius was honorably discharged from the Army in July 20, 2001. His certificate of release attests to his accomplishments: Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Sharpshooter qualification. The upper corner is the spot in which the military lists a departing member's reserve obligation, the amount of time discharged soldiers, sailors and Marines remain subject to recall. For Pistorius, the boxes contain a succession of zeroes.
Because he was discharged well after his prior reserve obligation had passed, the Army laid no further claim to him, until someone in St. Louis ignored those zeroes and went hunting for a fresh body to fill a manpower shortage that grows more painful with every Iraqi sunset.
"They basically told me that my Marine Corps time doesn't count as military service," Pistorius said. Faced with a threat of AWOL charges, and worried that a spotless military record was about to be stained, Pistorius headed last month to Camp McGrady in South Carolina.
"The first thing they did was thank us for showing up," Pistorius said. "They had 150 that were supposed to show up and about 75 did. Of those 75 maybe only 40 or 50 are medically fit."
Pistorius was honorably discharged from the Army in July 20, 2001. His certificate of release attests to his accomplishments: Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Sharpshooter qualification. The upper corner is the spot in which the military lists a departing member's reserve obligation, the amount of time discharged soldiers, sailors and Marines remain subject to recall. For Pistorius, the boxes contain a succession of zeroes.
Because he was discharged well after his prior reserve obligation had passed, the Army laid no further claim to him, until someone in St. Louis ignored those zeroes and went hunting for a fresh body to fill a manpower shortage that grows more painful with every Iraqi sunset.
"They basically told me that my Marine Corps time doesn't count as military service," Pistorius said. Faced with a threat of AWOL charges, and worried that a spotless military record was about to be stained, Pistorius headed last month to Camp McGrady in South Carolina.
"The first thing they did was thank us for showing up," Pistorius said. "They had 150 that were supposed to show up and about 75 did. Of those 75 maybe only 40 or 50 are medically fit."
# posted by scorpiorising : 6:39 AM |
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