158 lines
7.7 KiB
Plaintext
158 lines
7.7 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 12 Num. 47
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=======================================
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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ABC'S GOOF-UP NOT IRON-CLAD PROOF OF VOTESCAM THEORY
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====================================================
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On November 2, 1998, one day before the November 3rd election,
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the ABC television network had briefly posted to Internet what
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appeared to be actual election results. "How could ABC know the
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election results one day before the election?" some wondered.
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ABC's apparent mistake in posting the "election results"
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prematurely led to speculation that their seeming blunder in fact
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supported the "Votescam" theory.
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-+- The Votescam Theory -+-
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Some may object to calling "Votescam" a theory. In their book,
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*Votescam*, authors Jim and Ken Collier do provide a fair amount
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of evidence that the use of computers to tabulate election
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results makes the process especially vulnerable to fraud. The
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question is not whether election fraud exists -- it does -- but
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whether it exists so massively that =all= major political
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contests are fixed and the voters themselves, therefore, play no
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real part in the process.
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-+- Votescam: Background -+-
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In an article by Clark Matthews, published in the Spotlight
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newspaper ("Computer Bandits Can Steal Votes," 11/14/94), that
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newspaper's science and technology expert gives an overview of
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how computer fraud can make vote fraud easier to accomplish.
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Matthews writes, in part, that
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the rapid spread of advanced computer technology throughout
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the American election process is a cause of growing concern
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to citizens and computer professionals around the
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country... [Some of these computer technologies] are
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deeply troubling -- or carefully hidden from public view.
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And the companies backing these technologies have very deep
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pockets and a mysterious knack for insinuating their
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equipment into major voting jurisdictions...
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Adding credibility to concerns about computerized vote fraud is
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an article which appeared in The New Yorker magazine ("The Annals
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of Democracy," by Ronnie Dugger. November 1988). Matthews notes
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how Ronnie Dugger, author of the article
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conducted an in-depth investigation of electronic
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balloting. Almost everywhere he looked, he uncovered a
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voter's worst nightmare. Dugger focused on Computer
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Election Services (CES). At that time CES was the largest
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provider of computer ballots and tabulating equipment in
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the country... [The computers] came complete with external
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switches that allowed vote totals to be altered from
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outside of the machine. The vote counting software used by
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the machines was top secret.
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In light of the warnings given about videotaping voters issued
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during this latest election season, supposedly due to concerns
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about intimidation of black voters and others, it is especially
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interesting how Matthews relates what had happened to Jim Collier
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(co-author of *Votescam*) when he, seeking concrete proof of vote
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fraud, tried some videotaping of his own:
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...Jim Collier entered the county elections' computer
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facility with his video camera... [but] Collier was thrown
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out of the building, camera and all... [Collier had]
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videotaped an election worker running the same stack of
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punch-cards through the old-fashioned tabulating computer
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again and again and again.
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-+- Vote Fraud: How Massive? -+-
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Yes, there is vote fraud. Yes, the use of computer technology
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makes that vote fraud easier to get away with, since there is not
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so clear of a paper trail nowadays as there was when paper
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ballots were prevalent. But has the vote fraud become so massive
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that all election results can be known ahead of time? Conspiracy
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Nation does not think it's gotten that bad -- yet. If the
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process has become systematically rigged at the national level,
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then why are politicians of both parties in such a frenzy to
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receive campaign contributions? If the nationwide system were
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truly rigged, it would be hardly important how much money any
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politician had in their "war chest." Also, a preliminary
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comparison by Conspiracy Nation between ABC's one-day-early
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"results" and the actual election results shows that ABC was
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=not= omniscient; ABC's one-day-early "results" were sometimes
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inaccurate. For example, a quick check shows ABC had had Alfonse
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D'Amato as the winner in New York, but Charles "Little Chuckie"
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Schumer was the actual winner. ABC had had Jim Hodges losing to
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David Beasley in South Carolina's gubernatorial contest, but
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Hodges in fact won.
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-+- The Real Systemic Vote Fraud -+-
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But there =is= a type of nationwide, systemic vote fraud going on
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of which there can be no doubt. Congress has failed to tackle
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campaign finance reform. Through "soft money" contributions,
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donors of such funds receive a *quid pro quo* from legislators:
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political access and favorable legislation. Evidence of just
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what a sweet deal large corporations have been receiving from the
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U.S. Congress appears in, of all places, Time magazine ("Special
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Report: Corporate Welfare, a System Exposed," 11/9/98). In the
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first installment of a special series which Time says will
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continue in coming weeks, details are given on just how much of a
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bonanza corporations have been receiving, courtesy of the U.S.
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taxpayer. Time magazine says that $125 billion is given away
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yearly by the federal government in what Time calls "corporate
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welfare." The standard excuse for these enormous give-aways is
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that they result in increased employment. But Time smashes that
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myth: Fortune 500 companies "have erased more jobs than they
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have created this past decade, and yet they are the biggest
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beneficiaries of corporate welfare." Unfortunately, Time
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magazine does not, thus far, point out the obvious connection
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between campaign contributions received from corporate donors and
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the subsequent corporate welfare in its otherwise excellent
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report.
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-+- Conclusion -+-
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Systematic computerized vote fraud, at a national level, is not
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in place -- yet. But vote fraud, always occuring in U.S.
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history, still goes on and is probably on the rise. The use of
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computers in the election process makes it easier to sabotage
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honest elections, and can make nationwide, systemic vote fraud a
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reality. The most glaring and unremedied vote fraud, campaign
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donations which elevate money to pre-eminence in the election
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process, remains legal.
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+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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For related stories, visit:
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http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html
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Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
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of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
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I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."
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New mailing list: leave message in the old hollow tree stump.
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Want to know more about Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing, etc?
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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