This weblog goes back in time, with newest entries at the top. Older entries are transferred to the archive. If a search engine or a link brought you to this page and you don't see what you're looking for, search the site: The Web This Site You can also go to the Pray for Peace News archive (click here) or an index of everything at this site (click here). We offer our prayers for the souls swept away in Sunday's tsunami. We also pray for the survivors to make it through the next few days and weeks and eventually put their lives back together. We regret that our planet is filled with hate and violence. We pray that the departed souls have reached a better world. Amen. 30 Dec. 04 January Protests Planned Holly Hart, volunteer coordinator for the Cobb/LaMarche 2004 recount sent out this notice: "Jesse Jackson, CASE Ohio, and a broad coalition of groups will be holding a Pro-Democracy Rally in Columbus, Ohio at 2:00 PM on January 3, and then Rev. Jackson and others will hold a "Save Our Votes" rally in Baltimore at 10:00 AM in Baltimore on January 4 before starting an historic "March on Washington". That march will end up at a "Defend Democracy" rally and vigil in Washington while Congress is counting the tainted Ohio Electoral Votes on January 6th." Ed.'s note: Congressman John Conyers announced that he will object to the Ohio Electors when Congress convenes to ratify the vote on January 6th. Rev. Jesse Jackson is talking to John Kerry's campaign and other senators to join Conyers in challenging the vote. Surrealist.org urges Senators Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Clinton, Conrad, Corzine, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inyoue, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Stabenow, Wyden, and Obama to stand up to the Christian Reconstruction Movement and stop this voter fraud. 29 Dec. 04 Cult Life News The latest news from Ohio: the recount is over they only detected a 300 vote difference. However, here at Surrealist, we believe the recount was rigged. America deserves a paper trail and an honest system for auditing. In other words, let's count the votes instead of using cheat sheets. But once you're recruited into the cult you're a resident of the funny farm. They can do whatever they want. You tend to climb the walls after a while, but that's part of the deal. Welcome aboard. You're gonna love the cult. Everyone here is your friend! Here's a word from Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer. He ruled today that there was "nothing suggesting that Ohio election officials are engaging, or will engage, in illegal conduct." Case closed. Go get your cult beanie and meet in the mess hall in fifteen minutes to praise the recount results. Merry Christmas! One more week and 2004 will all be history! Hooray for the big end-of-year party the world puts on every year. I hope you get everything you want from Santa Claus! Keep an eye on the elves - they might be using your new stuff! Go look under the tree right now. Best wishes, Nori 25 Dec. 04 Track Election Fraud News Nothing about the recount on TV, but you can find out the latest on the Internet. I've been going to Google News (news.google.com) every day. Search for the keywords "Ohio recount," then sort by date. Also, go to these web sites that are tracking the news. Who needs TV anymore? Well, it is still good for a laugh once in a while - especially the news. Ho ho ho. WeDoNotConcede.com RedefeatBush.com DemocraticUnderground.com discussion thread ContestTheVote.org TruthOut.org FreePress.org StolenElection.org AudittheVote.org 22 Dec. 04 Attorneys Size Up Ohio Election Fraud In an article by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld, and Harvey Wasserman published today in the Free Press, several attorneys explain why they are volunteering to help: "Democracy cannot survive without honest elections. The Ohio election fraud lawsuits are about saving our democratic form of government. There is nothing more important than that." - Bonnie McFadden "We will lose our democracy unless we are willing to fight for it. If we allow voter suppression and dirty tricks to go uncovered and unpunished, we should not be surprised if these tactics become more virulent in future elections." - Karen Peterson "Voting has to be done openly and without any possibility of machine error and/or tampering. The problems in Ohio threaten this world, not just the United States. If they are not solved, then I consider this to be another stolen election by Bush without the courage of the Ukraine people." - Lillian Ritt "To me free expression and exchange of ideas, and the right to vote in free and fair elections are paramount moral and civic values to be protected at all costs. If it costs me some time and inconvenience to volunteer in this effort, then so be it. It is the price I pay to be an American citizen. I personally witnessed a moral outrage on election day. I am peculiarly in a position to take this one on, as I have personally nothing left to lose." - Melanie Braithwaite (go to original) 21 Dec. 04 Minimizing and Rationalizing Child Abuse If you want to talk about minimizing and rationalizing abuse, read this item recently documented in the latest issue of Cultic Studies Review (Vol. 3, No. 3): "Brent Jeffs, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has accused three of his uncles, including church leader Warren Jeffs, of sexually assaulting him on numerous occasions at a church school when he was a child. He says they told him that what they had done was 'God's work,' a way to make him a man, and that if he told anyone he would suffer the pain of eternal damnation." (original report by Pamela Manson, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 7/30/04) Ed.'s note: This is the logic of an abuser. God's work indeed. 20 Dec. 04 Minimizing and Rationalizing Election Fraud In an article published Dec. 15, writer Joshua Frank discounted election fraud. He treated it practically like a routine event, citing alleged Democratic fraud in the 1960s. He wrote: "Voting fraud in the US has been a bipartisan endeavor for decades. As Alexander Cockburn recently attested, 'The Democrats are getting worse at it and the Republicans better. Back in 1960 it was the other way round. The best-documented stolen election in history is probably the one that put Lyndon Johnson in the US Senate. Next came the one that gave JFK the White House.' " (go to original article) Ed.'s note: Yeah, well, JFK was assassinated. Maybe it made the crime easier to rationalize: ("He rigged the election - he deserved to die"). Or possibly his assassination was karma for what he did, or allowed election officials to do. Maybe JFK didn't even know about any election fraud, but the karmic buck stopped with him anyway. Election fraud is no casual thing. It should never be tolerated, minimized, rationalized, or covered up. It only needs to be put into the light of day to look completely hideous. Nobody wants election fraud. Even Republicans who are in love with Bush would feel uneasy if they knew his victory was fraudulent. So why are editorial writers arguing that it happens all the time and you just have to get better at it than the other party? Those attitudes are anti-American, destructive propaganda. "There is no right more precious in our Constitution than the right to vote. That is why I pledge that this investigation will not end and we will not go away until these questions are answered." - Congressman John Conyers 20 Dec. 04 "Merry Christmas" Controversy Last week in Raleigh, NC, Pastor Patrick Wooden urged area shopkeepers to greet customers with the words "Merry Christmas," not the secular "Happy Holidays." I understand the political implications of leaving Lord Jesus out of the holidays, but what if somebody's not Christian? Wouldn't they feel kind of left out if people put the whole focus of the holidays on Christ? Anyway, I'm tired of fighting about religion. Let's just allow everyone their beliefs - even atheists and secular humanists - and try to learn something from each other. The last thing we need is a State religion. America's founding fathers may have been Christian (or Deist, like Washington, Jefferson, and Ben Franklin), but they did not want a State religion. When I work in retail over Christmas, I usually say "happy holidays" from Thanksgiving until December 22. Then from Dec. 22 to Christmas day, I greet people with "Merry Christmas." Then from Dec. 26 - Jan. 1, I switch to "Have a happy new year." It's all one big progression of holidays, so it doesn't ultimately boil down to Christmas alone. After January 1, I greet customers with, "Aren't you glad it's over?" 17 Dec. 04 Election Officials Obstruct Ohio Recount The Green Party issued a press release today charging Ohio election officials with obstructing the recount. It said, in part: "In the vast majority of counties, election officials have pre-selected precincts to be sampled, rather than choose them randomly as required by law. In Cuyahoga County, the pre-selection of precincts eliminated those which reported the most problems on Election Day, thwarting the intent of the recount and raising serious concerns about the integrity of the process." See full press release: http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2004_12_17.html. Please write to your U.S. Congressman and Senators to request a fair recount. 17 Dec. 04 News from the Front Lines in Ohio Gary Polvinale of Sandusky, Ohio, writes: "People all over the country who are web-tracking what's happening want to help, who feel helpless, frustrated, and sorry for us in Ohio, are offering good wishes and words of encouragement. And believe me, we appreciate the encouragement. We do, and thank you for that. "But we here in Ohio need more than a 'You can do it' pat on the back. We ARE doing it. But nobody knows. Ohio is screaming the truth at the top of its lungs, literally, and no one hears us because of all the noise of the media silence. "If you want to do something, here's what you can do to help. I am asking the rest of the country to please get out there and find well-known people whose voices are loud enough to be heard by the press who will stand up for us. Get a Senator or a media personality or anyone of very high profile to come out about this. The media blackout is killing us. . . . "Give us a voice and we will deliver Ohio. Otherwise SOS Blackwell and the BOE will continue to slap us around like we don't matter a lick, at every turn. We are being squelched by a state government that is willing to violate our rights and even break the law as often as necessary to stand in our way and prevent us from exposing what they've done." (go to original) 16 Dec. 04 Age of Conservative Backlash America is experiencing a huge backlash. Baby boomers came on the scene asking "Why not?" and couldn't hear the numerous answers: "Because of money, power, seniority. We were here first." "Oil interests cannot allow renewable energy. Not yet." "Corporate welfare trumps environment. Sorry kids." "War is a way of life. We're not going to let you wipe it out." "Marijuana and hemp would upset the markets if they were legal." But the hippies pressed on. We joined the struggle for civil rights, women's rights, peace, Constitutional rights, ecology, honesty from leaders, media, and other institutions. Now those powerful interests are making their voices heard, pushing back practically all the gains we and our liberal predecessors made over many decades. They not only want to push us back to pre-1960s era, but they want to push international relations back to pre-WWII status; rewrite labor laws to reflect the 1860s, and ultimately reinstate the puritanical attitudes of seventeenth century Boston. I think the reason for this huge karmic blowback lies in the impeachment and resignation of President Richard Nixon. Maybe people were rabid with the fervor of change and Nixon was an icon that represented everything reformers hated. That final sign off before boarding the plane Aug. 9, 1974 remains a powerful symbol. However, that thirst for the toppling of Nixon brought on an even greater evil. The latest issue of the Global Visionary newsletter points out that if Nixon had remained in office we probably never would have gotten Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Richard Cheney. Global Visionary quotes as follows: "In 1972, President Richard Nixon returned from the Soviet Union with a treaty worked out by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the beginning of a process Kissinger called 'detente.' On June 1, 1972, Nixon gave a speech in which he said, "Last Friday, in Moscow, we witnessed the beginning of the end of that era which began in 1945. With this step, we have enhanced the security of both nations. We have begun to reduce the level of fear, by reducing the causes of fear-for our two peoples, and for all peoples in the world.' But Nixon left amid scandal and Ford came in, and Ford's Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) and Chief of Staff (Dick Cheney) believed it was intolerable that Americans might no longer be bound by fear. Without fear, how could Americans be manipulated? Rumsfeld and Cheney began a concerted effort - first secretly and then openly - to undermine Nixon's treaty for peace and to rebuild the state of fear and, thus, reinstate the Cold War." - Taken from Hyping Terror For Fun, Profit - And Power Ed.'s note: There's not much we can do about what happened in 1974. However, we face similar circumstances now and we might be able to learn something from this lesson. There's always time to learn from history. If we learn something now, it will be in the nick of time. 15 Dec. 04 More Recount News Editorial writer Katherine Yurica called for justice when she said: "Yes, you can win an election by stealing it, but you'll never be able to look at yourself in the mirror and respect the bloated coercive spirit behind the facile smile that stares back at you. If you were trusted with the sacred votes of trusting Americans and you embezzled them, 'flipped' them as some call it, or stuffed the boxes, you are a moral disgrace, a sick and perverted individual." Ed's. note: I agree completely. I would add to this category anyone who keeps dark secrets or participates in any way in changing the outcome of an election. Katherine Yurica goes on to chastise the Christian wing-nuts who are the alleged masterminds of the voter fraud: "If the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and other leaders of the Dominionist movement tell Americans that it is all right for Mr. Bush to take the oath of office even if he is not the duly elected president-elect, then Americans have lost their spiritual and moral compass beyond anything any of us could imagine. For one thing, it dooms Mr. Bush to a cloud of suspicion. Republicans ought more than anyone to insist that all the votes be counted." Ed's. note: Let's wake up and consider whether the Dominionist Christian Reconstruction movement is a hate group, as the Southern Poverty Law Center charges. Instead of Christian Reconstructionists, I'd call them Election Engineering Bushtocratists. (go to original article by Katherine Yurica - click here) 13 Dec. 04 Blog Excerpt Following is an excerpt from an entry on the comment sheet at BlueLemur.com: "As a programmer for twenty years, and a specialist in input methods including touch screens, my professional opinion is that no one should ever be forced to vote on a touch screen. Period. It's too easy to rig, and there's no auditability. . . . "But why be so paranoid? Shouldn't we just trust a voting machine made by a company with strong party ties, when that machine could easily alter the vote without anyone ever finding out? "No, we shouldn't. . . . This is just not okay. It shouldn't be okay to Democrats, and it shouldn't be okay to Republicans." - Comment by ConspiraciesNeverEverEverHappen 13 Dec. 04 Curtis, Feeney: How News Travels It was one week ago that Brad's Blog broke the story about software programmer Clint Curtis and the vote fraud software he said he wrote for Republican Tom Feeney, now a U.S. Congressman. Apparently Rep. John Conyers interviewed Curtis last week and the affidavit has gone on to the Judiciary Committee. But news does not travel fast enough. Why is the media not following this story? Even if it's a bit primitive, at least information is available on the Internet. If we had to depend on TV news, where would we be now? 13 Dec. 04 Voting is a Human Right The Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes Article 21 (3), states that "the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government" and "shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections." (See: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html) 12 Dec. 04 Affidavit on Statistical Anomalies Read the Ohio recount affidavit by Richard Hayes Phillips, a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. He points out numerous lost votes and statistical anomalies in Ohio. Click here (posted at this site). 11 Dec. 04 Democratic Radio Response Addresses Voter Fraud Today's Democratic response was delivered by Donna Brazile, chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute. Here's an excerpt from her speech: "There's no place in our democracy for fault voting equipment, long lines at the polls, untrained poll workers and any forms of chads. "It's time we erased the vast disparities between poor and affluent communities with respect to reliable voting systems. "As a nation, we should not rest until our elections are free from the problems of elections past and until all Americans can cast their ballots on Election Day fully confident that their votes have been counted." Click here to read full text. 10 Dec. 04 Democrat Identity Crisis David J. Sirota offers a cure for the Democratic party's identity crisis. Read his article, The Democrats' Da Vinci Code (The American Prospect, 09 Dec.): click here. He says the Democrats' Da Vinci code "threatens groups like the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), which has pushed the Democratic Party to give up on its working-class roots and embrace big business' agenda. These New Democrats, backed by huge corporate contributions, say that the party must reduce corporate regulation and embrace a free-trade policy that is wiping out local economies throughout the heartland. They have the nerve to call this agenda 'centrist' even though poll after poll shows it is far out of the mainstream." What Sirota proposes is that Democrat politicians take up the values of the heartland and stop trying to be Republican-lite. He says "these centrists get slaughtered at the ballot box, and their counterparts - the progressive economic populists - are racking up wins and relegating the DLC argument to the scrap heap." Read the article and think about it. Maybe the DLC has been brainwashed by the media to think there is no left wing. They have to try to get votes away from the GOP voters. However, America still has a heartbeat. Read article, click here. 10 Dec. 04 Sarcastic Democratic Republic I like a little honest sarcasm, but today, political satarist Will Durst went too far. He actually laughed at the Democrats for not being dishonest. Here's what he said in his column today: "The one thing you do have to give them [the Democratic party] is their rank as Grandmaster Hall of Fame residents in the competitive sport of world class whining. 'Oh, woe is we. Those Republican no-goodniks stole our precious election. What will happen to the children?' "Shocked, they're SHOCKED by the corruption going on in this country. You lame weenie butts. Of course the Republicans stole the election. They got clean away with stealing it last time: what did you expect would happen this time? That they'd just sit back and let the big money chips fall where they may? 'Oh, we big time corporate hustlers don't care to mess with the system with trillions of dollars in profits on the line. We'll just abide by the will of the people. That's the honorable thing to do.' Hah. I say. I say it again. Hah. And then repeat: hah hah. "Either the Dems knew this was going to happen or they're stupider than I give them credit for -- and I give them immense credit for being stupid. So, giving them benefit of the doubt, I blame them for not stealing the election first." Is that right Mr. Durst? You equate "honest" with "stupid"? You think it's smart to steal an election? You recommend it? Great. It just so happens there are a lot of honest people out here who want their votes to count. Just because your ethics are so low that you don't mind a stolen election or two - or a stolen election every time from now on - doesn't make it right. It's illegal and we are doing what we can to make future elections fair in this country. Yes, we do expect the Republicans to step back and respect the will of the People if they lose an election. Voting is our most sacred right and we do not like people to violate it. 09 Dec. 04 Latest Election Fraud News Here's the web site for the National Voting Rights Institute: http://DefendtheRecount.org or NVRI.org. They have a free mailing list. Here's the latest recount news archived at TruthOut.org: Jesse Jackson | In Cleveland as in Kiev click here; Jackson Vows to Continue Ohio Vote Probe click here; William Rivers Pitt | Live Reports from Conyers Hearing on Ohio Vote click here; Democrats Launch Investigation of Voting Problems in Ohio click here; Challenges Planned to Ohio's Presidential Vote Totals click here; Ann Woolner | Election 2004 Is History. Questions Keep Coming click here; Election Critics Protest at Ohio Statehouse click here; Bush 'Margin of Victory' in Election Narrows Significantly click here; Conyers to Hold Hearings on Ohio Vote Fraud click here; Jesse Jackson | Something's Fishy in Ohio click here; Former Bush Campaign Official Indicted for jamming of the Democrats' get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002 click here. 09 Dec. 04 More Shadowy Figures Another of those vote manipulators has come to light in an article by Thom Hartmann (click here for the original article). Hartmann said: "About two years ago, I wrote a story for these pages, 'If You Want To Win An Election, Just Control The Voting Machines,' that exposed how Senator Chuck Hagel had, before stepping down and running for the US Senate in Nebraska, been the head of the voting machine company (now ES&S) that had just computerized Nebraska's vote. The Washington Post (1/13/1997) said Hagel's 'Senate victory against an incumbent Democratic governor was the major Republican upset in the November election.' According to Bev Harris, Hagel won virtually every demographic group, including many largely black communities that had never before voted Republican. Hagel was the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska, nearly all on unauditable machines he had just sold the state. And in all probability, Hagel will run for President in 2008." Thom Hartmann has been one of the leading voices in the movement to get corporations out of the voting process and back into the hands of the People. Visit his site for more info.: ThomHartmann.com. 01 Dec. 04 More News about Election Fraud Here are the latest articles from around the country: Kerry Team Seeks to Join Ohio Recount Fight click here; Nationwide Voting Errors Tallied, More Than 30,000 Complaints Lodged click here; Ian H. Solomon | Validate the Vote click here; James Fallows | A Paper Ballot, Please click here; Jesse Jackson Joins Critics of Ohio Vote click here; Critics Tackle Ohio Vote click here; More Voting Questions Raised click here; Ralph G. Neas | Fundamental Flaws Put Our Voting System at Risk click here; Judge Denies Demand for Early Ohio Recount click here; William Rivers Pitt | Saving Your Right to Vote click here; Marjorie Cohn | Litigating the Election click here; Lawsuit Challenges Ohio Presidential Results click here. 28 Nov. 04 In the Inbox Tonight I received a letter from a fellow Internet traveler about the state of the world. He sent me a short essay and invited me to post it at my site or use however I wish to promote the common good. The entire essay is posted at his site: PopGoesLethal.com. Here's an excerpt: "I never thought much about politics because they didn't much matter. Decisions were being made somewhere but they had no impact on me. And why should they? The country was far too large, the world was far too full of people, for the self-important corruptions of a few men, thousands of miles away, to actually have an impact on regular old me here in my little town. "And my art was just art - goofy and of unpredictable quality. Sometimes it would turn out great, and sometimes it wouldn't. But it never was really ABOUT anything. I was kind of morally opposed to meaning, you might say. "Now? Things have changed. It wasn't 9-11. That could have come and gone without any real shift in consciousness for me. A tragic, remarkable blip on a screen that I was diligently not paying attention to. No, it wasn't 9-11. "But things have changed. Now, when I hear sirens, my heart drops. I think of the sirens that would sound periodically during my childhood in the seventies. Air raid drills. And I think, are those air raid sirens I'm hearing?" Ed's. comments: I appreciate this. I was in grammar school in the 1960s when we had nuclear bomb drills. They were like fire drills, but the teacher yelled "drop" and we jumped under our desks and put our hands over our heads. So, there was that vibe back then. We still had air raid sirens, left over from World War II. In those days, decisions were being made elsewhere and we trusted our government to prevent disasters (and they did a good job). However, now comes the Bush administration. They let 9/11 happen and every single thing they've done since that day has been to overcompensate for their mistake. Think about it. Many of us were against the Afghanistan retaliation war, but it was very popular. If the Bushs had just left the war craps table after that, they would have gone home with a big bag of loot in terms of international good will. Rebuild Afghanistan and help the country get back on its feet. End of story. Okay, there we have it: 9/11 avenged, world made safer, Taliban gone, al Quaeda on the run, etc., etc. But oh no, they could not stop with that. They had to work their idiot schemes on Iraq. "We have to get the terrorists before they get us." What about solving problems through proper use of intelligence? They obviously never thought of that. So here we are, teetering on the brink of destruction worse than back in the 1960s. Sorry to rant on about this, but we have to do something. Even though we dislike Bush and his illegal war in Iraq as much as anyone, we are Americans, and we tend to look guilty by association. The majority of voters are against Bush. However, unfortunately we have about as much true democracy as people in the Ukraine (or possibly less). I want to live in a country where even poor people can vote and get their votes counted. Okay? Is that asking too much? I want to let go of 9/11 and all the pain associated with that day, week, month, year. Okay? I did not declare war on the world on 9/11. I remember the sense of unity that existed around the world in the weeks following 9/11. 28 Nov. 04 Stop the War Week is Dec. 3 - 11 We hate to have to protest against our own government. It's a bad sign, especially right after an election, that the majority of the world's people despise his actions. Therefore, a vocal minority must voice the frustrations of the masses. The International Action Center calls on you to do something for peace this week. Do something for peace, even if you cannot go to a rally. The following statement is from the IAC news bulletin today: "The People of the world are rising up in response to the escalating crimes of the Bush administration. In Chile, where Bush was attending the APEC conference, he was greeted by 70,000 angry protesters in the streets, outraged over U.S. war crimes in Fallujah, where more than 800 civilians were killed by the recent assault on the city." 20 Nov. 04 Ensure Legitimate Elections My friend recently brushed off the allegations of voter fraud and voting machine manipulations saying, "The Republicans and Democrats cheat. Always have, always will. Business as usual." If it is business as usual, that's a shame. All those soldiers who have died for our freedom since the Revolutionary War have all died for nothing. If cheating is "business as usual," then we have to change what's going on. Here are the most recent articles on the question of legitimate elections: MIT Scientist Backs Berkeley Voting Report click here; Hearings on Ohio Voting Put 2004 Election in Doubt click here; John Kerry: Fight Bush's Right-Wing Assault click here; Cobb and Badnarik: Ohio Recount Must Start Now click here; 'Stinking Evidence' of Election Fraud in Florida click here; 'Smoke Alarm': Berkeley Researchers Find Major Flaws in Florida click here; Democrats Take up Fight over Ohio Ballots click here; Steve Weissman | How Much Fraud Does the GOP Need? click here; Majority of Ohio Provisional Ballots Legitimate click here; Will Vote Recount Settle Doubts? click here; Election 2004 and Lingering Suspicions click here; 16 Nov. 04 Vision of Truth Here is an article about why peace is possible. I'm still following the voter fraud story, but in spite of any alleged foul play - or rather because of it - we need to remember our overarching goals now more than ever. The Vision of Peace, By John Dear. 16 Nov. 04 Fraud in Florida? Here's the latest from blackboxvoting.org. Post is quoted in full. Click on link to go to the blog: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/dcforum/DCForumID4122/36.html#1) Nov-16-04, 05:30 PM (PST) "RE: Bev in Volusia County right now" In response to message #10 i dont' know why this hasn't been posted here yet, but here is a post from Bev on the Democratic Underground Forums: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2704906 BevHarris Donating member (1000+ posts Tue Nov-16-04 07:26 PM Original message Volusia County election records just got put on lockdown Dueling lawyers, election officials gnashing teeth, Votergate.tv film crew catching it all. Here's what happened so far: Friday Black Box Voting investigators Andy Stephenson and Kathleen Wynne popped in to ask for some records. They were rebuffed by an elections official named Denise. Bev Harris called on the cell phone from investigations in downstate Florida, and told Volusia County Elections Supervisor Deanie Lowe that Black Box Voting would be in to pick up our Nov. 2 Freedom of Information request, or would file for a hand recount. "No, Bev, please don't do that!" she exclaimed. But this is the way it has to be, folks. We didn't back down. Monday Bev, Andy and Kathleen came in with a film crew and asked for the FOIA request. Deanie Lowe gave it to us with a smile, but I noticed that one item, the polling place tapes, were not copies of the real ones, but instead were new printouts, done on Nov. 15, and not signed by anyone. I asked to see the real ones, and they told us for "privacy" reasons we can't have copies of the signed ones. I insisted on at least viewing them (although refusing to give us copies of the signatures is not legally defensible, according to our attorney). They said the real ones were in the County Elections warehouse. It was quittin' time and we arranged to come back this morning to review them. Lana Hires, an employee who gained some notoriety in a Diebold memo, where she asked for an explanation of minus 16,022 votes for Gore, so she wouldn't have to stand there "looking dumb" when the auditor came in, was particularly unhappy about seeing us in the office. She vigorously shook her head when Deanie Lowe suggested we go to the warehouse. Kathleen Wynne and I showed up at the warehouse at 8:15 this morning. There was Lana Hires looking especially gruff, yet surprised. She ordered us out. Well, we couldn't see why because there she was, with a couple other people, handling the original poll tapes. You know, the ones with the signatures on them. We stepped out and they promptly shut the door behind us. There was a trash bag on the porch outside the door. I looked into it and what do you know, but there were poll tapes in there. They came out and glared at us. We 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, we went and parked behind a bus to see what they would do next. They pulled out some large pylons, which blocked the door. I decided to go look at the garbage some more. Kathleen videotaped this. A man came out and I 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. We then looked through it, as Pete looked on. He was quite friendly. We collected various poll tapes and other information and asked if they could copy it for us, for our 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 we all stood around discussing the merits of my public records request. They finally let us go, about the time our film crew arrived, and we all trooped off to the elections office. There, the plot thickened. We began to compare the special printouts given to us with the signed polling tapes from election night. Lo and behold, some were missing. We also found some that 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? Our polling tape, specially printed on Nov. 15, without signatures, or theirs, printed on Nov. 2, with up to 8 signatures per tape? Well, then it became even more interesting. Lana Hires took it upon herself to box up some items from an office, which appeared to contain -- you guessed it -- polling place tapes. She took them to the back of the building and disappeared. Then, voting integrity advocates from Volusia and Broward, 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, we compared these with the Nov. 2 signed ones and the "special' ones from Nov. 15 given to us, unsigned, and we found several of the MISSING poll tapes. There they were: In the garbage. So, Kathleen went to the car and got the polling place tapes we had pulled from the warehouse garbage. My my my. There were not only discrepancies, but a polling place tape that was signed by six officials. This was a bit disturbing, since the employees there told us that bag was destined for the shredder. By now, a county lawyer had appeared on the scene, suddenly threatening to charge us extra for the time we took looking at the real stuff they had withheld from us in our FOIA. Other lawyers appeared, phoned, people had meetings, Lana glowered at everyone, and someone shut the door in the office holding the GEMS server. Andy then went to get the GEMS server locked down. He also got the memory cards locked down and secured, much to the dismay of Lana. They were scattered around unsecured in any way before that. We then all agreed to convene tomorrow morning, to further audit, discuss the hand count that Black Box Voting will require of Volusia County, and of course, it is time to talk about contesting the election in Volusia. Bev Harris Executive Director Black Box Voting Together with Andy, and Kathleen. xxxooo 16 Nov. 04 United Press International Covers Alleged Voter Fraud Story We were surprised to see the story rear its head in UPI today. Here's an excerpt: Exit polling by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International, which created the National Election Poll for ABC, AP, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NBC, had shown Kerry leading by 3 percentage points in Florida and by 4 points in Ohio. Kerry lost Florida by 5.2 percent, with Bush running ahead of his 2000 performance in 58 of the state's 67 counties. In Ohio, the margin was 2.5 percent.Click here to read entire article. 15 Nov. 04 Fraud in Ohio? Today my local community radio station is doing a special segment, interviewing people in Ohio who are pressing for an investigation into the voting irregularities. Here are some of the things they're discussing: In Warren County, State Attorney General Kenneth Blackwell locked the media and all observers out of the building when they counted the vote. Blackwell claimed there was a terror warning, but there was no terror warning. In another instance, there was a van carrying all the votes to a central government building, which was followed by two cars, one with Democrats and one with Republicans. Somebody called the police claiming that the Democrat car was stalking them. The police pulled the Democrats over and the truck got away. The radio discussion is about whether there was intentional fraud committed. 15 Nov. 04 Get the Truth Out The Internet offers good news coverage through TruthOut.org If you are not a TruthOut subscriber, sign up right now (click here). It's free and keeps you up to date on the real news, not the Scott Petersen O.J. Simpson world where most of the TV news is stuck. You can support TruthOut during their fund drives or hook up a small monthly donation on your credit card - or just read it for free and BE INFORMED! There has been a lot of progress on recounting the vote in several states, but you would never hear about it on TV, aside from a few minutes on MSNBC's Keith Olbermann show, Countdown. God bless him. Here's a collection of articles about the voting machines, sent out in the last two weeks since the election (newest articles first). Read them in good health: Recount in Ohio a Sure Thing click here; Zogby.com | 'I Smell a Rat' click here; Presidential Race Still Undecided in New Mexico click here; The Unexplained Exit Poll Discrepancy click here; New Hampshire: Presidential Ballots to Be Recounted click here; Kerry Campaign Scrutinizes Ohio click here; Greg Palast | Kerry Won Ohio click here; A Legitimate Recount Effort in Ohio click here; Worst Voter Error Is Apathy toward Irregularities click here; Kerry Campaign Lawyers Checking Ohio Vote click here; Steve Weissman | Who Counts in Ohio? click here; Le Monde | Electoral Archaism click here; Ohio Is Set to Reckon with Outstanding Ballots click here; Ohio Democratic Party: Every Vote Will Be Counted! click here; Bush's 'Incredible' Vote Tallies click here; Worse Than 2000: Tuesday's Electoral Disaster click here; Thom Hartmann | Evidence Mounts that the Vote Was Hacked click here; House Dems Seek Election Inquiry click here; Voting: Electronic Miscounts Multiply click here; Voting Machine Error Gave Bush Extra Ohio Votes click here; Greg Palast | Kerry Won click here; Ohio Goes into Overtime click here. 13 Nov. 04 The Continuing Vote Discrepancy Read this PDF file and tell me what you think: The Unexplained Exit Poll Discrepancy, By Steven F. Freeman . Excerpt: "Looking at the exit polls and announced results in Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania, he concludes that the odds against such an accidental discrepancy in all three states together was 250 million to one." Now tell me how to deal with it. Do we just roll over and go along with it? That is what a cult victim would do. So okay everybody, drop to your knees and give the gurus twenty. Here is an excerpt from an ongoing email correspondence I've been having with a follower of a guru. We've been discussing the crime of child abuse, as it applies to closed, authoritarian groups like the Hare Krishnas. Here's her take on how to deal with child abuse: "those child abusers will be abused in their next life.thats a fact and unless they surrender to Krishna nothing can be done.neither you are I can stop it if its Gods will." In other words, let the child abuse go on because everyone's just getting their karma laundered. Why stop a good thing? It's becomng apparent that something happend. If any of you think, "We should back off. The stock market could crash. We can't even think about all the terrible things that might happen if we prove Kerry really won. Why make the effort. Let's just hang our heads down and look toward 2008." If you're really that submissive, then I have a couple of used saris to sell you. You're going to love living in the cult for four more years. 10 Nov. 04 Ensure Fair Elections Here's a list of things you can do to combat fraudulent elections in the USA: Donate: Black Box Voting http://www.blackboxvoting.org The Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org Voter Verified Voting http://www.verifiedvoting.org Voters Unite http://www.votersunite.org Ballot Integrity http://www.ballotintegrity.org Donate to the Green Party of Ohio to recount the Ohio vote. http://votecobb.org or http://www.ohiogreens.org Sign a petition. Click here to take action! http://act.actforchange.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/ecH70G1BRF0NDx0sJK0Ej Go here for instructions on how to fight voter fraud: http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/11/con04494.html Sign the MoveOn petition: http://www.moveon.org/investigatethevote Another petition: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?uselect 08 Nov. 04 Exit Polls Contradict Electronic Votes Senator Kerry ran a great campaign. According to the exit polls he won in four additional states: Iowa (49.7% to 48.4%), Nevada (49.2% to 47.9%), New Mexico (50.1% to 47.5%), and Ohio (52.1% to 47.9%). It is possible there was a voting machine meltdown in this election. Maybe voting machines have always manipulated election results, but we're just starting to realize it. What an unspeakable crime! Ninety percent of Republicans who are happy they won would feel ashamed if they knew they won by fraud. Nobody wants to see that. In America, people put their faith in the right to vote. It's sacred to most of us - violation is a horrible feeling. However, since the election of 2000, there is doubt. It was confirmed this year. It is obvious now that they do intimidate voters, discard valid registrations, and throw away provisional ballots. Above all, the machines do make mistakes. Now it's just a question of whether the mistakes were intentional. Also, whether the mistakes might change the outcome of any elections. If there was no manipulation, then it means we have four million new right wing voters. That could be even more of a problem. In an election fraud scenario you have a criminal cabal of men who think they will never be caught. That's what all criminals think. On the other hand, you have four million angry Christians who love war and tax cuts, but hate Hollywood, the gays, and all "liberals." If there is a large majority of people like this in our society, it means the culture war is much worse than we thought. Look for an increase in hate crimes against people who look like the Beatles. (No kidding. Wasn't it John Lennon who said they were more popular than Jesus? Yeah, and elephants never forget things like that!) Pray for Peace Foundation seeks an end to the culture war. There's a good chance that we are all more similar than we think. If there is an evil cabal, perhaps they have purposely driven a wedge between the American people. We are all being manipulated either through our devotion to the President or our repulsion to him. This is a charismatic problem and we're all into it. I used to think my background in the cult was a useless experience. However, now that it's all happening again, I'm grateful that I've already been through this once. On the other hand, if this is not simply a charismatic issue, and there truly are cultural differences to such a proportion that we can't stand being around each other anymore, then we better do something about it. Perhaps if each side presented their issues, then we could reach some sort of compromise. For example, we all have complaints about what they show on TV. Those are the People's airwaves and we should have more say over how Hollywood and the big corporations use them. With a lot of work, we could reach a mutually agreeable way to use the airwaves and tone down the horrible programming they provide for us now. (TV would be a lot different if I had any say, believe me! For one thing, I would bring back free public service announcements.) If you have any ideas, please send them in (contact info.). We have one advantage over the Republicans and that is we are not being misled by charismatic leaders. We see what's going on. In some ways our position as outsiders can be more difficult. We must endure persecution for having our own beliefs. Since I was in a cult for ten years, I know all about peer pressure to conform to a charismatic leader's wishes. You have "us" the good people and "them" the bad people. If we can repair the voting process before 2006, we can do a lot to change this mess. Make a contribution to BlackBoxVoting.org. Kerry still has the option to run against Bush in 2008 and I hope he does. Or maybe Wesley Clark would be a good candidate. Whatever happens four years from now, we should prepare for 2006 by pressuring the legislature to guarantee paper verified voting in all states. We must also demand that they put the vote tabulation process back into the hands of non-partisan civil servants an bi-partisan volunteers. We also have to address the other problems in the voting system. 06 Nov. 04 Coming Soon: Culture Peace They say there's a culture war over "values." I say the culture war is almost over. Soon, people will wake up from the brainwashing. Even though the leaders have stirred up an atmosphere of fear and distrust, we do not have to accept their vision for us. We can make friends across cultures and end the culture war now. Starting in January 2005, this web log will start to focus on ways to create culture peace. index