56 Articles

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Meaning of Life Questions: A Speculative Look at the Big Picture of Life in the Universe
(4 comments) Former language interpreter for Presidents and other top officials, Fred Burks describes his overall galactic view: "In 2001, a wonderful friend sent me a life-changing video, and opened my eyes to a major cover-up of UFOs." Researching several different coverups, and "based on information I received independently from sources I trust, I developed my own theories about the big picture, which I provide here for you."

Monday, April 14, 2008
Sex, Race and War
(20 comments) Two different groups of activists met this year to discuss strategy, with exact opposite results. At a Common Cause forum, blogger Brad Friedman collected applause when he marginalized gender and racial equality: "I don't think we have the luxury to concern ourselves with these things. We're talking about the furniture while the house is burning down." At a feminist forum, the strategy was to build bridges with the oppressed.

Sunday, March 23, 2008
Obama Advisor's Firm Spies on McCain, Clinton
(2 comments) The CEO of a company whose employee is accused of improperly looking at the passport files of presidential candidates is a consultant to the Barack Obama campaign. The State Department, thru its private contractor, breached the passport records of Obama, Clinton and McCain. Bush Sr. did this to Bill Clinton back in 1992.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Law of Demand
(1 comments) This piece of net-advice promises we can force gas prices to lower if we stop buying gas from Exxon Mobil, which also owns Esso.

Sunday, March 16, 2008
Hackable Voting Machines Hacked in Ohio
(4 comments) An investigation into electronic voting machines used in Franklin County, Ohio last fall revealed that the machines were tampered with, removing a candidate name; that they were not tested prior to use (as required by law); and that a function that tracked changes to the machines was purposely turned off. Undeterred by science, politicians still plan to use wholly non-securable voting equipment which counts the vote in secret.

Friday, March 7, 2008
Texas Holdem: Provisionals, Delegates, One-Party Counties Hold Back the Public Will
(6 comments) Voting rules, partisan practices and faulty registration databases seem to blame for a series of "anomalies" in the March 4th Texas primary.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Real Election Madness
(5 comments) Serving as one of the Ohio investigators taught me that citizen oversight is the cure to "Election Madness," a pandemic delusion fiercely held by half the country - that half that still votes. Let's take our country back, by implementing an election process that models best management practices. This brief handbook offers a skeletal plan on how to do this.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
So. Florida Nuclear Reactors Shut Down
Millions of people in South Florida experienced brief power outages this afternoon as two nuclear reactors in Miami automatically shut down when power lines at a substation failed.

Monday, February 18, 2008
Non-Electoral Activism in a Presidential Election Year
Presidential politics overshadows all other politics during a Presidential election period, sucking up activist energy, popular attention and donor contributions. But there's also an opposite mistake that can be made -accommodating tactics to the electoral season in a way which strips our movements of urgency, creativity, militancy and edginess.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Political Realism vs Negotiating with Our Hands
(17 comments) Successful tactics from around the globe inspire adoption into the hand-count elections movement. Rejection of hopeless "realism" – that politicians aren't considering our demand for hand counts - is but a part of the overall strategy. If citizens expect accurate election results, they must run parallel polls, observe, investigate and video the vote. Power is never given; it must be asserted.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
No Centralized Voter Registration Databases
Franklin County (OH) Muncipal Court is another in a long line of government organizations that violate citizens' privacy by exposing personal information on its website. Coupling centralized, computerized voter registration databases with secret vote counting (via machine) is a perfect recipe for tyranny. Stalin must be dancing in his grave over U.S. elections.

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Writers Campaign for Transparent Vote Counting
(2 comments) This collection of articles on NH's disparity between hand-counted precincts and machine-tabulated precincts contain a wealth of resource and video links from most of the biggest names in election integrity. The best and the brightest have written with persuasion, arguing for transparency. Most articles contain action links, to write Congress and newspapers. Spread the word.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Inherent Uncertainty and NH's Primary Results
(9 comments) Blogs are bursting over the fact that ALL the major pollsters, including Hillary's and Barack's internal polling, had Obama winning New Hampshire's presidential primary election. Yet in a surreal recurring nightmare, official results say otherwise. We'll never know because election conditions invoke inherent uncertainty.

Sunday, January 6, 2008
Papering over OptiScam Problems
(9 comments) Reading the 7,800-word New York Times article on voting systems, many will walk away believing optical scans are the best choice for democratic elections. Damn the science. Damn the cost. Damn the loss of transparency and public accountability. The problems inherent in software-driven systems can all be corrected by hand-counting paper ballots at the precinct on election night, before all who wish to observe.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Siegelman's Iron Mask for Alleging Voting Machine Fraud
(2 comments) Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman sits in prison on questionable charges, after losing his bid for re-election and speaking out publicly that he believes "that somebody manipulated the election results." ES&S optical scan systems were used in 2002.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Peter B. Collins to air Hand-Count Amici
Peter B. Collins responded to the VCC press release regarding the HCPB amici entrance into US vs. NY, by inviting Dave Berman back on his radio show this Friday Dec. 21 at about 5:20 pm Pacific time (8:20 pm Eastern). Brad Friedman and Humboldt (CA) Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich will both be on at that time as well.

Saturday, December 15, 2007
I am Voter Hear Me Roar: Meet the New York Amici
(8 comments) Hand-counted paper ballot advocates submitted a Friend of the Court brief in US vs. NY. Quoted herein are some of the gems found in their affidavits.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Combined Annotations of Voting System Reports
The Jan.07 and Dec.07 annotated bibliographies of expert reports on voting systems have been combined into a single pdf document, sans my editorial introductions. This compilation should prove to be a handy resource manual.

Monday, December 10, 2007
2007 Technology Tests of Computerized Voting Systems
(5 comments) This supplements my annotated bibliography of expert reports posted at OpEdNews in January 2007 (see http://tinyurl.com/2gwlve), adding known 2007 studies and two omitted studies from 2006. Computerized systems are no more secure today than a year ago, allowing for undetectable insider and outsider election fraud on a countywide basis.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007
US to NY: You Gotta HAVA Faulty Voting Machine
(1 comments) The US Dept. of Justice seeks to force New York to use faulty voting technology. Citizens still urge New York to deploy hand-counted paper ballots: cheapest, most accurate and easiest to secure.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Too Butch to Pee
(1 comments) It's not often I run across a news story (or a film or book) that captures my experiences in the Land of the Free. More than once I've been warned that I was in the women's room, as if I had made a mistake. I suspect my tiny physique and mirthful reaction convinces an accuser of her error, despite my short hair and sensible shoes. This case highlights why we're GLBT and not just GLB, or GL, or G.

Monday, August 13, 2007
Nonsexist Alternative Language: Handbook for Conscious Writers
(36 comments) One of the most successful and enduring changes effected by the women's liberation movement of the 60s thru 80s was the universal adoption of nonsexist language by governmental, business and educational institutions. To speak with equality is to think with equality, simultaneously confronting and subverting the dominant paradigm. Here are alternatives to those terms you just know you shouldn't use.

Friday, August 3, 2007
Decertify and Use HCPBs: Open Letter to Debra Bowen
(2 comments) Time to put the People back into our elections and rid ourselves of unsecurable technology. No more SDDs! Give us HCPBs!

Monday, July 16, 2007
Sins of Our Fathers: Rebuilding with Ruthless Honesty
(9 comments) Ruthless honesty requires us to admit that the founders of this nation, while mouthing egalitarian principles, practiced anything but. If movement leaders hope to rally the masses behind the banner of democracy, they are better advised to quote those who practice what they preach. The spread of corporatism and Ted Nace's fascinating "Gangs of America" provide the backdrop to this discussion.

Monday, July 9, 2007
Tom Robbins on America
Though not always successful, it is usually my aim to deliver the truth with humor. Robbins is a writer who achieves this without parallel, and one of my favorite sources of comfort. This two-part essay, How Do You Feel About America? from a collection of short nonfiction pieces, contains his thoughts on American society before and after the coup d'êtat.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Doo Dah Does Democracy
(2 comments) Columbus, Ohio's whacky Doo Dah Parade is the Left's answer to Red White & Boom, the official celebration of our independence. Thru silly costumes and messaging, the real message is imparted with humor. Maybe next year, we'll celebrate the demise of the Bush junta, the end of resource wars, a new reign of citizen-run paper ballot elections, and the restoration of our Constitution. Now, that would be difficult to make silly.

Friday, June 29, 2007
A People's Forum: Debating Among Ourselves, First
(2 comments) If we agree that "government IS the problem" then why do we bother even talking to them? Why debate them, why respond to them, why acknowledge them? Isn't it long past time we withdrew our taxes, our vote, our consent? Before we can have a meeting of the minds between social justice activists and elites, we must first have a meeting of the minds among the oppressed. Let's hear what the US Social Forum reports.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Occupied Elections: Review of 'My Country My Country'
(5 comments) Filmmaker Laura Poitras follows the life of Iraqi activist, Dr. Riyadh, in war torn Baghdad for eight months, culminating in the military operation of the January 30, 2005 election. She films this against the backdrop of a town without water or electricity, of children being imprisoned at Abu Ghraib, of political kidnappings and ever-increasing violence. Thru her lens, we see the indomitable human spirit.

Sunday, June 17, 2007
The Pride of Victory: Freeheld
June is the traditional month calling for equal rights for all citizens, especially the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities. "Freeheld" tells the story of one lesbian couple, and the community that rallied behind them, to secure equal rights for domestic partners. As the GLBT community takes to the streets again this year, it can step a little lighter knowing that at least one battle for equality was won.

Sunday, June 17, 2007
Spirit of Conscious Rap: Review of "Letter to the President"
Snoop Dogg narrates this talking-heads rap with America's black youth. Rap and Hip Hop stars take turns discussing the history of the genre, the current state of US inner cities, the suppression of black votes in the 2004 election, and the need for a return to "conscious rap."

Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The Rising Reign of Resistance: Review of Mangal Pandey
The man who inspired Gandhi, 90 years before India's independence, is Mangal Pandey. This is the story of the first rebellion, the one that destroyed the East India Trading Company. Exquisite costumes, music and choreography carry the film, able to inspire indigenous people from any nation under corporate siege. This film is pure India in character, celebrating the dances, songs and customs of the Hindu people.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Is Grassroots Activism Relevant? Review of "Understanding America's Terrorist Crisis"
Gore Vidal and several experts discuss stolen elections, the un-Patriot Act, theft in office, war without end, and media collusion in this panel discussion hosted by The Independent Institute. Grassroots activists can be effective when enough of us withdraw our compliance. The issues raised in this 2002 panel are more relevant today, given Bush's recent dictator directive.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Liberty Tree: Democratizing Elections
Review of "Liberty Tree," the Journal of the Democratic Revolution, now in its second year. Building real democracy entails more than just voting issues, as this journal articulates. The real measure of revolution will be when citizens gain control of elections, removing corporations and government from what is, after all, our democracy.

Friday, May 18, 2007
The Guvs Must Be Crazy
The problem is this; the guvs do that. Elections belong to the people, but only in theory in the U.S. Civil society has a cure – are we about to assert our inalienable right to govern ourselves? Many writers think the time is now.

Sunday, May 13, 2007
Honor Mom: Don't Drive for a Week
(1 comments) You know you're an organizer when holidays become public outreach events. Communication tactics abound with upcoming fairs, civic and Pride celebrations. Here's one I leapt on because it landed in my mailbox. I printed 100 copies of this "Letter to the Editor" of a local volunteer newsletter, and distributed it in my neighborhood.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007
911 Stand Up
Bootleg Culture: 9-11 Truth CD "We hold these truths to be self-evident: No. 1. George W. Bush is not president. No. 2. America is not a true democracy, and No. 3. The media is not fooling me."

Friday, April 13, 2007
Boo Who Vu?
(1 comments) San Diego County recently hired Cuyahoga County, Ohio's disgraced elections official, Michael Vu, who resigned under a storm of controversy stemming from the rigged recount in 2004 and a 2006 scientific study condemning Cuyahoga's elections. Election integrity demands Vu's removal from the field of public elections.

Friday, April 13, 2007
Electoral Management Design Handbook Review
The Electoral Management Design Handbook is written for electoral administrators, electoral administration designers and other practitioners involved in building professional, sustainable and cost-effective electoral administrations that can deliver legitimate and credible free and fair elections. It offers many sound practices that are relevant to any election worker, including parallel election workers.

Friday, April 6, 2007
Seizing the Polls
(2 comments) Firing the entire Cuyahoga Board of Elections is a stunning display of official accountability. Cuyahoga's violations were stunning. They lost not only hundreds of memory cards, but also 29 voting machines. If Brunner can replace the Cuyahoga Board with competent democracy advocates, surely we salute her, Citizen oversight is especially vital now, in this transition stage.

Friday, March 2, 2007
Silver City
In "Silver City" director John Sayles uses mining, arguably one of the most environmentally toxic processes of industricalized society, as a backdrop to expose the multiple and often hidden layers of profit-driven power. Instead of a movie about election fraud, it's about the fraud of elections.

Thursday, January 18, 2007
Electronic Voting & Fair Vote Counts: 15 Expert Reports
(2 comments) Annotated bibliography of 15 Expert Reports on electronic voting and fair vote counts -- summarized and sourced for your reference.

Thursday, January 11, 2007
Secret Ballot
(1 comments) Winner of several awards, including Best Director (Venice Film Festival), this 2001 film presents a delightful view into voting. With charm and comedy, director Babak Payami challenges our conceptions of the meaning and import of elections.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007
HCPB Implementation Strategy 2007
(6 comments) While machine advocates try to justify electronic voting, even going so far as to add yet another electronic gadget (assuring us this is the magic bullet that will fix all our electronic voting system "glitches"), here's a less expensive, common sense strategy for 2007.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Overview of Major Expert Studies on Voting Systems
(4 comments) Non-technical summary of several major expert reports on the security of various electronic voting systems. Reports reviewed included Brennan Center, Princeton, RABA, CompuWare, Hursti-BBV, Election Science Inst., GAO (2005), Congressional Research Srvc (2003)and two news articles. This overview will be updated as other reports are reviewed.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Death Bed Unity for HCPBs (Hand Counter Paper Ballots)
(4 comments) My Republican family now finds hand-counted paper ballots a viable solution, amid our Christmas crisis.

Thursday, November 23, 2006
Meet the New Boss: Jennifer Brunner, Secretary of State
(2 comments) Ohio's new Secretary of State promises to "examine the machines" and to expand early voting. While many are happy with the Democratic sweep, the election system hasn't changed. We still have election conditions which provide no basis for confidence in reported results. Links to many reports for bringing the new crop of politicians up to speed.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Parallel Election Results Summary
Two-page summary of Parallel Elections results from Central Ohio. Link to 10-page spreadsheet: http://tinyurl.com/yhj8cf

Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Take your Camera, Cell Phone or Mini CVCam to Your Polling Place
It's as easy as 1...2....3... Take your camera, cell phone or mini dvcam to your polling place. Make a video of any irregularities. Upload to You Tube and www.thepeoplechoose.org

Thursday, October 26, 2006
Everybody ona Move
If you want to do more than just vote on Election Day, read this!

Thursday, October 19, 2006
SWARM: See What Activism Really Means
SWARM - the whys, wherefores, and whatnots of civic engagement.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006
We Count Seize the Polls: HCPB bill introduced for 2008
Recaps Ohio's election integrity conferences and events in the past month. Calls for swarm of election "protection" activities.

Saturday, October 7, 2006
Diebold Memory Cards Stolen
(3 comments) Diebold memory cards, which provide election results, were stolen during the May 6, 2006 primary in Cuyahoga County, as reported by the AP yesterday.

Wednesday, October 4, 2006
The Critical Issue: Stealing America vote by vote
Review of Dorothy Fadiman's Stealing America: Vote by Vote (preview version)

Monday, September 18, 2006
Unfit for Use in ANY Democracy
(4 comments) Learn why computerized voting takes "We the People" out of public elections. Links to recent expert reports and action items are included.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Parallel Elections Training Session this Saturday
This Saturday, 9/16, at the Ohio Lesbian Business Assn Festival in Kirkersville, Ohio at Frontier Ranch from 1 to 3pm. Women interested in attending this workshop or this day-long festival are encouraged to visit http://www.ohiolba.org/

Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Parallel Elections Manual
(1 comments) Learn how hand-counting paper ballots in a Parallel Election: * audits official election results, * serves as an exit poll, and * engages citizens in this cornerstone of democracy - voting. Learn the tools to effectively run and analyze a Parallel Election in your precinct. Show the experts, your neighbors, and yourself that sometimes the simplest method is the best.