What To Do About Election Fraud

To quote one of the greatest artists of all time, Aretha Franklin,

“YOU’D BETTER THINK.”

The evidence is too precise to ignore.

No way George Bush won either election, and this one, based on results, is the dirtiest we know about.

I've lived in Arizona since 2000, having lived in New York City for 25 years earlier. New Yorkers are one of the fastest growing demographics in this state. There is no way I can see that Arizona went for Bush. Not if there was an honest count. Turns out, AZ is one of the dirtest election states in the Union. Red states and Blue states is a divide and conquer illusion being put in our face. Now is the time to unify and take a stand for truth.

The real battle at the moment is in Ohio. If there is anything you can do to help out in Ohio, do it now, please. RecountOhio.org. is running ads on the situation.

There are planned gatherings of citizens on January 3- 6, 2005 around the United States, telling Congresspeople and Senators to not certify the election , due to evidence of voting fraud.

Take the time necessary and think about the impact this corrupt government is having on our lives. Our environment is being trashed, we have failed to fund successful, clean and "free energy" alternatives, our children are being drugged and left behind based on international scoring standards, our food supply is polluted with many chemicals that cause harm, medicines designed to heal are killing in record numbers, many of our citizens are in prison for non-violent crimes, our transportation infrastructure is falling apart, and worst of all, America is still going around the world killing innocent people in the name of making ourselves safe. A corrupt system is producing a corrupt world.

It's time to clean it up. Do your research about "voting fraud" and "stolen election." Support those in leadership positions to clean up the voting process. Contact your elected and appointed officals about the need to restore integrity to the voting process. Enlist the participation of your crew. Create joy in the process. Here's your broom.

1. Research your own list of links that you have found with evidence of election fraud. My favorite is still the Boston Globe report that maps reports of voter fraud by state. To stay up to date, do daily news searches for (or sign up for news alerts on) “election fraud” or “voter fraud” or “stolen election.” It’s not just a United States problem.

To find the truth one has to look deeper than the corporate media , though they are coming around to reporting the truth, led by the Countdown crew on MSNBC.

The best source for information is currently found on the web. For example check out Bradblog for the video of a testimony about election fraud. It is dangerous to pretend not to know what is really going on now. BreakForNews, Black Box Voting.org, Citizens for a Legitimate Government, MoveOn.Org, Common Cause and others are keeping folks up to date on what’s really going on and how to make it better.

2. Support folks who are working on the issue of election fraud. Especially by participating in e-mail campaigns, filling out as many pro election verification pages as you can. Participate in surveys that give total election overhall as an option. As you do your research support those whose work you respect. There are many links throught this election series of blogs for consideration, as well as the election related links on the right.

The next steps in the process need to happen before the election's congressional approval on January 6, 2005.

The Congressional Black Caucus challenged the president’s approval in January 2001 based on evidence of election fraud. They already have enough to make their case from the hearings in Ohio. They have asked that rather than send them support, contact others and tell them about election fraud.

It was reported over the Christmas Holiday that John Kerry is getting into the spirit of true democracy and preparing to challenge. It is time to take our country back from the rule of the special interests. There is so much dirt here that I’m now questioning election results going back much farther than this presidential election, including various congressional and primary races.

Support and encourage your senators, congresspeople, electors and others to stand with the C.B.C. in their challenge of the election certification. There is a sample Declaration of Intent link with ideas for what to do when contacting your elected and appointed officials.

3. Contact your elected and appointed officials via e-mail. Tell them how you voted and demand an accurate count of the votes. If they can’t prove it they have to re do it. Quick on line contact lists that you can send updates to between now and Jan 6th can be found for your

Congresspersons
Senators
Governor
National Association of Secretaries of State.
Electors

There is a lot of great information available on the web. Copy, paste and forward web addresses, articles, quotes and ideas you have - or find of interest - to those in positions to restore integrity to the voting system. Send the folks in charge something new every day about election fraud until the truth is restored. E-mail and web forms make it easy. Remember to verify what you read. These are the days of disinformation. Don't get caught up in what happened to Dan Rather who unknowingly used some of the disinformation out there without realizing it was the rotten apple thrown into the barrel. People of the Lie are tricky.

4. Enlist your media, friends, family, neighbors and prayer groups in the work of restoring integrity to our voting system now. It’s time to Lift Every Voice And Sing.

Be careful with the media. They were reporting George Bush won Arizona before the voting machines were open, let alone the votes counted.

The times have changed. In the industrial age it was easy to hide the process from the electorate. Those in power could say whatever they wanted about how the election came out. Stories about voting problems could be buried in a controlled media that even had the choice of what candidates could be heard in a national forum like the presidential debates.

But in the information age, the truth razor can set things right.

A Course In Miracles – Workbook – Lesson 66. Paragraph 10, 6-8:

On one side stand all illusions.
All truth stands on the other.
Let us try today to realize that only the truth is true.

The truth is there is election fraud. The government is "spoiling" votes and that's not right. Only an honest count of the vote should award the job of President of the United States of America. Anything less we are setting ourselves up for an unnecessary slaughter. That’s just a plain stupid strategy.

5. Create Joy - while spending less. Live from what is truly important in life, including but not limited to health, love, truth and freedom. Share the joy of truth restored to the voting system and the problems it will solve. The truth will put the right person into office. The time for new and dynamic thought has arrived. We have ways to solve the problems we are facing like AIDS, peak oil, honest government and health care. We need to be working positively on this and other issues, like solving the crack induced crisis caused by the CIA’s distribution of the drug in the 1980’s, i.e. Iran Contra , so save your contact lists for post election season.

One more thing. Watch for the Lord to walk through this election process. Great change can come quickly based on a series of ordinary miracles, like truth. If the truth is that George Bush won the presidency based on the votes, so be it. But in the words of Bruce DePalma, 'truth has a ring to it which is unmistakable to those in search of it.' I hope Michael Moore is making a movie on this election fraud situation too.

I am praying for divine restoration of the voting system. I am praying for every soul, every day. I am praying for us, the One, that is all.

Peace on earth to people of good will.

Electoral College Campaign

The United States government can’t prove the accuracy of the vote, with phrases like "spoilage of some votes" (mostly Black American votes), discouragement of some voters, voting tapes found in the trash can in Florida, and the president’s state election co-chair is the Secretary of State , the main voting cop in Ohio. Since they can’t prove it, they are going to have to re do it, unless we find another way.

As citizens, we must demand an accurate accounting of the vote. We hire an accounting firm for an awards show, and fail to achieve an accurate counting of the vote. We can count a dollar down to a tenth of a penny (like at the gas station) but can’t produce an accurate vote count with a verifiable paper trail. We can’t pretend to be that stupid. We the People have the Power to get the Electoral College to do the right thing. With the web, we have the tools.

The Electoral College met and the president was declared the winner. Yet, there is positive movement whereby the New York Times, the Washington Post, Congressman John Conyers, Rev. Jessie Jackson and most importantly, Sen. John Kerry are now looking into the matter of voter fraud. It isn't over until Congress approves and Sen. Kerry could be the one senator to stand with the Congressional Black Caucus come president approval time.

There is still time to make a change by demanding an honest count of the vote. Research what's going on and talk about the results.

The Electoral College (EC) says "There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law requiring electors to vote in accordance with the popular vote in their States." Some States have such requirements. It’s time for a campaign directly to the members of the EC to restore integrity to the voting process. Many states electors are not bound to the voting results.

Gathering the evidence (much is available on line) that this election was corrupt, and making a case to the electors to vote the Will of the People, and not the Will of the Government, could solve our short term problem, our corrupt election system. There is much to do after this.

Campaigns in the dirtiest states are those with 15 or more alleged incidents per 100,000 votes on the Boston Globe list. They include (state-electoral votes) AZ-10. GA-15., IL-21, LA-9, MO-11, NJ-15, NY-31, PA-21, TX-34

Where I live, Arizona, we only have 10 electoral voters (EV), but an on line campaign of citizens contacting their EV, over the country may make a difference. It doesn’t matter if they went Bush or Kerry. That’s not the point. Each voter needs to make it known to their EV, how they voted and demand an appropriate reaction.

This idea is based on information from the Electoral College site:

"No Legal Requirement

Electors in these States are not bound by State Law to cast their vote for a specific candidate:
ARIZONA - 10 Electoral Votes ARKANSAS - 6 Electoral Votes DELAWARE - 3 Electoral Votes GEORGIA - 15 Electoral Votes IDAHO - 4 Electoral Votes ILLINOIS - 21 Electoral Votes INDIANA - 11 Electoral Votes IOWA - 7 Electoral Votes KANSAS - 6 Electoral Votes KENTUCKY - 8 Electoral Votes LOUISIANA - 9 Electoral Votes MINNESOTA - 10 Electoral Votes MISSOURI - 11 Electoral Votes NEW HAMPSHIRE - 4 Electoral Votes NEW JERSEY - 15 Electoral Votes NEW YORK - 31 Electoral Votes NORTH DAKOTA - 3 Electoral Votes PENNSYLVANIA - 21 Electoral Votes RHODE ISLAND - 4 Electoral Votes SOUTH DAKOTA - 3 Electoral Votes TENNESSEE - 11 Electoral Votes TEXAS - 34 Electoral Votes UTAH - 5 Electoral Votes WEST VIRGINIA - 5 Electoral Votes "

The point is not, despite my personal issues, to get the president out of office. The point is to restore truth to voting. So if the game is to be played in the Electoral College, lets go to the stadium. From there the game moves to congress. I suspect the Will of the People is coming forward and there is no stopping the truth.

From the Electoral College site’s FAQ’s:

"Must electors vote for the candidate who won their State's popular vote?

There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their States. Some States, however, require electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. These pledges fall into two categories -- electors bound by State law and those bound by pledges to political parties.
Which States bind electors to popular vote results? Refer to Electors Bound by State Law and Pledges to find out."

Based on the evidence of vote fraud throughout many states in the union, it's wrong to make a decision as important as who will be the next President of the United States of America on a lie.

'Tain't fittin. It just 'tain't fittin.' The truth needs to be factored into the decision.

Kerry's concession.

John Kerry is an old lawyer who knew the concession speech didn't matter. It may have helped whoever is rigging the elections to put their guard down a bit, which leaves room for the rest of us to rise. From the Electoral College site:

"What impact does a candidate's concession speech have on the Electoral College process?
None. A candidate's concession speech does not impact the States' duties and responsibilities related to the Electoral College system. On December 13, 2004, the electors will meet in each State to cast their ballots.
The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties' nominees. Some State laws provide that so-called "faithless electors" may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector. The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.
Today, it is rare for electors to disregard the popular vote by casting their electoral vote for someone other than their party's candidate. Electors generally hold a leadership position in their party or were chosen to recognize years of loyal service to the party. Throughout our history as a nation, more than 99 percent of electors have voted as pledged."
The names of the electors are posted

Here's a sample e-mail structure that can be used to contact your congressperson, senator, governor, media, friends, family, neighbors and prayer lists.

Subject:

I voted for _____________.

Text:

As a _______ voter, you are advised that I voted for ________ in the 2004 Presidential Primary.

Attached is the supporting documentation that I think you should look at to make your decision as to the true will of the people in our state.

(insert your strongest links and ideas, or copy your favorite from this article.)

I know you will do the right thing and restore the will of the people to government.

Your Name, Citizen

(copy everyone you can think of - make it a topic of discussion)

There are many pre written letters through these links if that's better for you. I think it's got to come from your heart. Articles and evidence that ring true to you. Just write it once and copy everyone you can. Make it a topic of holiday discussion. A gift we can give ourselves. The truth.

Also, contact your Secretary of State.

National Association of Secretaries of State.

From the contact sheet at the EC website:

"Contacts
For more information on the Electoral College and the election responsibilities of the States and the Archivist of the United States, contact the Office of the Federal Register:
Telephone:
202-741-6030
Email:
electoral_college@nara.gov

Your Electoral College contacts at the Office of the Federal Register are:
Michael White, Director of Legal Affairs and Policy
Amy Bunk, Attorney-Advisor "


Please forward to whomever could add ideas or actions to this one. Follow your heart as to your response. An e-mail, phone, letters, more web pages to the electors would at least bring attention to the problem of election fraud in the land of the free and the home of the brave. As folks copy their correspondence to their electoral representatives to the media, elected and appointed officials, and, most importantly, to our neighbors, We the People can send a message to the world that we did not elect this man in the first place.
Prescott Bush, the president’s grandfather, was Hitler’s main money man in the U.S. Like Hitler brought Germany to its knees, we are in the same danger because of our policies.
As a result of our faulty election system, we have gone into Iraq, killed at least 100,000 innocent folks, took their oil and other resources without fair compensation, while calling ourselves protecting America. I am ashamed to be an American. It's time to pump up our working to put out the oil fire that is consuming us. We didn't start the fire, but we sure have to be the ones to put it out.
There is no logical reason for millions of folks to have lost their jobs, health care, homes, credit ratings, lives and most importantly, freedom. It’s time to do better than that.
We can do better than that.

Election2004 - Prove It or Re-Do It

“How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think." – Hitler
The Boston Globe reported that there were more than 30 reported voting problems per 100,000 votes in FL, OH, PA, AZ, LA, NM and CO. And that's just the reported ones. Check our your state on the Boston Globe Map.
T H I N K . As a patent holding inventor, let me assure you there is a scientist in everyone. It is the spark within of curious concern or need that sends us in a relentless search of answers to the problems we will solve.
Every citizen needs to look scientifically at this election and accept only the facts. How many people voted for who? It is to our advantage to stop pretending not to know that this election is crooked. To accept anything less than an accurate vote count is dangerous. We need to be complete scientists.
The late, great inventor Bruce DePalma, (whose N-Machine uses spinning magnets and brushes to create free energy) explains scientific thinking in his new book DePalma, Free Energy and the N-Machine.
"The complete scientist is a balanced person. He has the discernment and discrimination to perceive the underlying truths of nature, hidden beneath the multiplicity of experimental appearances. He has enough sense not to extend his theoretical expectations beyond the resolution of his experiments. Nor to delude himself into thinking the manipulations of mathematics can offer him more insight than the conceptualizations on which they are based. What is required in Science is not the training of more clones or epigones. What is required is the balancing of the individual, the harmonization of thinking. The development of insight, and observational instincts to discriminate between the real and the unreal. That is Science. "
BLACK FOLKS NOTES
Every citizen should be involved, especially the members of my "race." A lot of the election fraud took place in minority communities. This has got to stop. Too many folks died for everybody's right to vote to let this issue handle itself.
Dr. King’s fear that he expressed to Harry Belefonte is now a reality. Black folks have been integrated into a burning house. It's an oil fire that requires the whole community to help put it out.
The DNA folks report that they can’t tell a person’s race from DNA. W.E.B. Dubois wrote in the introduction of the 50th anniversary his work THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLKS “Race is just an excuse that we use as to why some people can have and some people cannot have.” It's time to lay the drama down for a minute, forgive and go forward. The only way to win this battle for an honest vote count is for everyone to work together for the highest good for all concerned.
Not just Black folks, everybody. You can pick it back up later if you want. But now, at this critical point in history, everyone has equal responsibility to heal our nation. I’m not saying the sky is falling. That already happened on 9/11/01. I'm saying like in the book Horton Hears A Who, every voice and action should be talking loud and saying something constructive. It is time for more righteous rap.
MEDIA - DEMOCRACY KEY
Now that the major media is mentioning the possibility that the election did not produce an accurate count, it’s up to all the American people to restore balance and truth to our system. It’s broken. Do a news search on “Stolen Election” or "Voter Fraud." Look at the facts, the direct experience of vote accountability. If there is none, as in qualified voters who voted were not counted, then we have to redo the whole thing. Zero tolerance for fraud or inaccuracy needs to be considered. We can do it. Downloadable and paper ballots, received by a specific date, will produce a verifiable count. We are in the information age and it’s time to demand integrity in the data we use to make decisions. To base the world’s future on inaccurate data is just plain stupid. We must think things all the way through, and make adjustments N O W!!!!
WHY PROVE IT OR REDO IT
Why do we need to rethink our society then take positive steps to improve the quality of life on the planet? Our debt is high with millions of people without access to housing and medical care. Our roads and many of our cities are in disrepair. Our children and old people are in crisis in life centered issues like health and safety. Our environment is polluted. People are getting sick at a rate of one in twenty patients from just going to the hospital and picking up a secondary infection. We are hated by many in the world as we continue to kill innocent people in a war with folks who had nobody on the 9/11 planes. Imagine yourself as an Iraqi child today. ‘This is the freedom that you bring?’ Our president and members of his staff have lied to us and the rest of the world, incompetence has been promoted and the will of the people mis-counted. The government does not have a right to invalidate a registered person’s vote, yet that is what happened. It’s not about Kerry or Bush, though I am deeply disappointed that Senator Kerry has not taken an active role in demanding an accurate vote count. I still see the vision. It’s about fixing the system, and one person, one vote is a good place to start. It’s the ultimate check and balance, yet it is being mis-managed, as in no paper trail for some votes, as a way to continue with unpopular policies.

HOW
The question is what to do now to solve our problems. It begins with the individual.
First, look within to get the answer to how best you can heal our society. Listen to what you are thinking and the power that tells your heart how to beat and your lungs how to breathe, even when you are asleep. A great how to book is HOW TO MEDITATE by Lawrence LeShan.
Then, if appropriate for you, write, call or visit your elected and appointed officials and demand that your vote be counted. Trace it or report that it is missing. Discuss with your family, friends and associates relevant situations and solutions. Get a blog and write the truth.
As a nation, we need to decide; are we for war or peace, prosperity or debt, a healthy environment or a dirty one, an educated or a stupid society. Based on results we have become a warring people, deeply in debt, living in a dirty environment. That’s not smart. We’ve got to think things through, present evidence of election fraud scientifically, and calmly take our country back.
The late Peter McWilliams said ‘YOU CAN’T AFFORD THE LUXURY OF A NEGATIVE THOUGHT’ Stop thinking we are better than every one else in the world. We clearly are not. Everybody deserves a decent place to live, clean food and water and a high speed internet connection.
It is time for America to teach (not force) the world about freedom and democracy, by example – not bombs - the words of angels. “Peace on earth to men of good will.”
It starts with each of us creating peace within our selves by doing the right thing for the highest good of all concerned.

DON’T DENY – VERIFY

DEMAND AN ACCURATE VOTE COUNT

PROVE IT OR REDO-IT

SCIENTIFICALLY THINK THROUGH WHAT WE DO

We are overcoming now.

Stolen Election - What to do next

First I want to thank MSNBC’s Keith Olberman and the rest of the team for speaking up on the issue of election fraud. The government supplied numbers snakes are in your house, so I understand how difficult it is to stand up for the truth. But we must all stand up for the truth, like Edward R. Murrow did in London with the bombs going off around him. Stand and report the truth. Maybe now we can have an adult conversation for the need to invalidate the last election results or get an accurate count.

“NEW YORK— With news this morning that the computerized balloting in North Carolina is so thoroughly messed up that all state-wide voting may be thrown out and a second election day scheduled, the story continues.

Tonight (11/10/04) on 'Countdown,' we'll examine the N.C. mess (which would not include a second presidential vote), new fuzzy math in Nevada, allegations against the Democrats in Pennsylvania, Ralph Nader's news conference, and the other voting developments as they occur. A Stanford computer expert will address the vulnerability of the Optical Scanning system (and answer the question: which is easier to hack, electronic voting or exit polls?), and Newsweek's Jonathan Alter will join me to report on the reporting.”

More deeply, I am grateful to the independent media folks especially, as I'm sure Olberman is, for keeping this subject front and center so that, despite the reports of extra killing in Iraq to keep the media busy, the problem of an inaccurate election must be solved.

For verification, try this if you haven’t already. Do a web search on "Stolen election" in a news search engine. The results are not what they were reported to be, and the red states and the blue states are not as different as this analysis of lies are reporting.

I lived in NYC from '72-'98 and will always love New York. I've lived in AZ for 5 years now as a self-defined refugee from the Giuliani administration. Arizona and other red states did not vote the way we have been led to believe. Because we don't know who won is what's troubling me. Remember election night? The news announced Bush won over Kerry in Arizona before they could call the numbers off the voting machines, let alone the last voter voted.

Add to that the early voting numbers, which were large, and the only way they could have predicted the win for Bush is to use pre-supplied numbers. It stinks to high heaven, maybe beyond. Time to shine the light of truth.

I want to assure my brothers and sisters in the “blue” states that we in the “red” states did not vote for that man in the ways the media originally reported. They are trying the old divide and conquer because they think we are stupid. They’ve given us false data to think on.

We’re suppose to believe that the people re-elected the man on whose watch 9/11 occurred. It affected us too. I’ve had many conversations and the majority of folks out here are not stupid. It’s a myth. The will of the American people is crying for great, positive change that moves us in the direction of world peace and prosperity for all. We want a clean environment. Money is not more important than health. Check out Einstein’s MESSAGE FOR POSTERITY. We have enough to take care of all. It’s the fear based system that is broken and requires immediate attention. We are truly on the wrong path.

To the blue states and the world please know that this election, based on results, does not reflect the will of the American people. Too many “mistakes” were made in favor of the president for us to pretend not to know what was tried here. Karl Rowe was a bit too confident in the results the night before the election.

Please encourage the DNC, RNC, League of Women Voters and other elected and appointed officials, groups, spiritual gatherings and folks to speak up on this bogus election.

GIVEN NEW EVIDENCE PRESENTED CONCERNING ELECTION PROBLEMS, DEMAND EVERY VOTE BE ACCOUNTED FOR - OR INVALIDATE THAT ELECTION.

We can count a dollar down to the penny, but we can't count votes?????

Here’s a few things I found about what folks are doing, or should do, about this election fraud.

1. SEND A MESSAGE – SPEND LESS
“The Grand Refusal Is Launched!
CITIZENS FOR LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT
Pittsburgh, PA: November 7, 2004
CONTACT: Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D. and Lori Price,
Citizens For Legitimate Government is calling for the Grand Refusal to begin!! Stage one: Do not consume at normal levels; consume less. Do not purchase any entertainment. Do not buy any surplus goods or other major purchases. Only do what you have to do to survive. And, get others involved. Help get Citizens For Legitimate Government's Grand Refusal Coalition in motion. Help build the Grand Refusal! Stand by for stage 2. Once we reach critical mass, we will launch stage 2. “
Vote Fraud - Exit Polls Vs Actuals

2. Kerry May have won this election From No Stolen Elections!
“To: Urgent Response Network - Sisters and Brothers,
While hundreds of thousands of votes in Ohio have yet to be counted and reports of voter disenfranchisement throughout the country - particularly among minority, immigrant, young, and low-income Americans - continue to pour-in and questions are left to be answered about the massive gap between early polling data and the final total in Florida - a state where half of the voting populous used touch-screen machines that leave no paper trail, John Kerry just conceded the presidential election.
KERRY MAY HAVE CONCEDED THIS ELECTION, BUT WE WILL NEVER CONCEDE OUR RIGHT TO A FAIR AND JUST DEMOCRATIC PROCESS! “

3. "If Another Election Is Stolen, Let's Boycott Major US Media"
From The Baltimore Chronicle.com

“Even though foreign and military policies of Bush and Kerry are disturbingly similar, a survey of 35 countries shows 30 want Kerry to replace Bush in the White House, and by large margins. This news was received with shock, awe and derision by US celebrity media pundits, who--if they mentioned the poll at all--said its respondents were obviously "ignorant." Characteristically, this poll was totally ignored by TV news.
"Why was it ignored?" you might ask. The answer is that issues as defined, analyzed and disseminated by US corporate media are different than those discussed elsewhere. A strong case can be made, in fact, that, for more than two decades, these media outlets have been intent on tilting our framework for news understanding to the political right. When was the last time you saw academics have a free and open discussion on TV? Thirty years? It's been at least that long since "liberals" (we put the word in quotes to denote its dictionary meaning, because it has become so maligned in public discourse that it no longer connotes that meaning) had significant presence on television and prominence in major newspaper OpEd pages.”

4. From the Berkley Daily Planet.com - Another Stolen Election: By JAMES K. SAYRE
COMMENTARY (11-09-04)

“The exit polls that showed a sweeping victory for Sen. Kerry on Nov. 2 were right. Unfortunately, the 2004 presidential election was cleanly stolen by Bush & Co. How, you say? With the help of Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia and SAIC, four interlocked secretive right-wing electronic voting machine manufacturers. We have entrusted the most important election task, that of actually counting and tabulating the vote totals to extremist organizations with secret proprietary vote-counting computer software with no auditable paper trail for hand recounts. How very convenient, how very clean, how very slick and with all the evidence of election rigging is buried deep on their computer hard drives.
Sen. Kerry won a landslide victory by between two million and five million votes. The pre-election public opinion polls pointed to a large and growing Kerry election day majority and the election day exit polls also indicated a Kerry victory. Unfortunately, theocratic extremely right-wing computer election machine manufacturing corporations were in charge of “counting” the votes of millions and millions of Americans. Some how, a few million Kerry votes didn’t get counted and a few million bogus Bush votes showed up in the final election tallies and voila, a Bush “victory.”
Democracy in 21st century America has been kidnapped and destroyed by extreme right-wing control of the new secret computerized electronic vote counting systems. Verifiable hand-counted paper ballots are the only way to restore legitimate elections in America. “

5. From The Wilderness.com reports The Triumph of the Bush Machines -

“But there is one overriding fact that has been left out most of the ridiculous post-election punditry that renders all other analyses completely irrelevant. It is also the reason why the smiles on the faces of Bush crime family members are so bright, as they watched the returns on election night.
Air America Radio's Mike Malloy gave the most succinct and passionate explanation in his Wednesday, November 3, 2004, program [my links included-LC]:
"The American vote count is controlled by three major corporate players, Diebold, ESS, Sequoia, and a fourth, SAIC, Science Applications International. All four are hard-wired into the Bush power structure, the Bush crime family.
"They have been given millions of dollars by the Bush regime to complete a sweeping computerization of voting machines that were just used in the 2004 election. The technology involved had a trial run during the 2002 mid-term elections. Georgia had Diebold machines in every precinct. As a result, a popular Democratic governor and senator were both unseated in what the media called an "amazing" 16 percent swing.
"Diebold's Walden O'Dell, a top Bush fundraiser, publicly committed himself to delivering his home state Ohio's votes to Bush. At Diebold, the election division is run by Bob Urosevich. Bob's brother, Todd, is a top executive at "rival" ES&S. The brothers were originally staked by Howard Ahmanson, a member of the Council For National Policy, a right-wing steering group stacked with Bush true believers. Ahmanson is also one of the bagmen behind the extremist Christian Reconstruction Movement, which advocates the theocratic takeover of American democracy.
"The four companies are interconnected; they are not four "competitors". Ahmanson has large stakes in ES&S, whose former CEO was Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. When Hagel ran for office, his own company counted the votes, and his victory was considered "an amazing upset". Hagel still has a million dollar stake in ES&S.
"Sequoia is the corporate parent of a private equity firm, Madison Dearborn, which is partner in the Carlyle Group. (Also see here.)”

6. Never Say Die-bold: So You Don’t Think the Bush Campaign Stole This Election? Think Again -by guest writer Jackson Thoreau

If you’re looking for one word to sum up the way the Bush-Cheney campaign stole another election Tuesday besides obvious ones like “cheated,” try this one: Diebold.
An election judge where I voted Tuesday in a heavily Democratic precinct in Maryland knows what that means and wasn’t adverse to sharing his opinion of the Republican-owned company. As I was about to vote with the electronic system, I asked this judge if they had a way to check people’s votes through a paper backup.
The official said no, and then in a low voice so no one else would hear, added, “And that really makes us nervous, with Diebold as the owner of that system.”
Goodbye, hanging chads. Hello, computer fraud that leaves no trace, no chads hanging.
Diebold Inc. of North Canton, Ohio, supplied scores of machines and counted millions of votes Tuesday, while reportedly discarding many votes for Democrat John Kerry, according to British investigative reporter Gregory Palast. Walden O’Dell, chief executive of Diebold and a top fundraiser for the Bush campaign, wrote in a fund-raising letter last year that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”
That he did.

When I was in high school back in the 1960’s we had a typing drill we use to do.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN TO COME TO THE AID OF THEIR COUNTRY.

Or the politically correct way of saying it

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD PEOPLE TO COME TO THE AID OF THEIR COUNTRY AND WORLD.

Stolen Election - Gathering Evidence

Now the evidence is mounting that the 2004 Presidential election was corrupted by the special interests that want to continue war, throwing more people into harm's way, and controlling every aspect of our lives.

1. MSNBC Reports Machine glitch gave Bush extra Ohio votes
Officials say 3,893-vote error did not affect state result
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:17 p.m. ET Nov. 5, 2004

"Problems in North Carolina, California - In one North Carolina county, more than 4,500 votes were lost in Tuesday’s election because officials mistakenly believed a computer that stored ballots electronically could hold more data than it did.

And in San Francisco, a voting software malfunction could delay efforts to declare the winners of four county supervisor races.

In the Gahanna precinct, multiple copies of each ballot were recorded: two on the machine and three to a removable cartridge, said Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections. When voting ends, each cartridge is taken to one of five zones in the county, where the results were loaded into a laptop. Those results were transferred by secure data lines to the county."

2. Dirty Election: From Bellaciao.org

Friday 5th November 2004 :

Too many voting ’irregularities’ to be coincidence

"Isn’t it strange that all of these ’anomalies’ in the exit polls and touchscreen machines always seem to favor Bush? There were many similar reports after the 2002 congressional elections, when the Republicans took control of Congress (which the evil cabal needed to prevent a real 911 investigation and to start the war free of consequences)."


3. Tompaine.com reports that Kerry won in Ohio and New Mexico.

"Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry. At 1:05 a.m. Wednesday morning, CNN's exit poll showed Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to 47 percent. The exit polls were later combined with—and therefore contaminated by—the tabulated results, ultimately becoming a mirror of the apparent actual vote. [To read about the skewing of exit polls to conform to official results, click here .] Kerry also defeated Bush among Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state.

So what's going on here? Answer: the exit polls are accurate. Pollsters ask, "Who did you vote for?" Unfortunately, they don't ask the crucial, question, "Was your vote counted?" The voters don't know.

Here's why. Although the exit polls show that most voters in Ohio punched cards for Kerry-Edwards, thousands of these votes were simply not recorded. This was predictable and it was predicted. [See TomPaine.com, "An Election Spoiled Rotten," November 1.]"


4. From CounterBias.com "The Case For Fraud"

"Here are grounds for suspicion. Electronic voting machines figured heavily in the final tabulation of the results in Ohio, Florida, and New Mexico. Moreover, in all three, paper audit trails do not exist. These states therefore offered the best, safest opportunity for manipulation of the final count."


5. The News-Dispatch "Computer glitch still baffles county clerk" By Kristin Miller, Michigan City, Indiana

"LaPORTE - The day after a two-and-a-half-hour delay in counting ballots due to a glitch in a computer program, LaPorte County election officials are still trying to figure out what happened.

"Maybe there was a power surge," LaPorte County Clerk Lynne Spevak said. "Something zapped it."

At about 7 p.m. Tuesday, it was noticed that the first two or three printouts from individual precinct reports all listed an identical number of voters. Each precinct was listed as having 300 registered voters.
That means the total number of voters for the county would be 22,200, although there are actually more than 79,000 registered voters."

6. Las Cruces Sun-News: County set to certify vote

By Heath HaussamenNov 7, 2004, 07:30 am

"The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners is tentatively scheduled to certify the county’s election results Tuesday, but not before a Monday protest by local residents who accuse the clerk’s office of election fraud.Las Crucen Ron Nesler has organized the protest. At noon Monday, he and others will drive around the county courthouse honking their horns “to protest election fraud on the part of the Doña Ana County Clerk’s office,” according to an e-mail to the Sun-News from Nesler.“Others will be on foot at the entrance to the county courthouse with picket signs demanding fair and open election procedures,” Nesler wrote in a posting on LCWatch.com, a local citizen’s group Web site."

7. Computerized system lost more than 4,000 early votes in Carteret County The Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - Several N.C. counties reported problems with voting, including Carteret, where more than 4,000 early votes were lost because the electronic voting system could not store the volume of votes it received.

It was unknown what effect the problem would have on local or state voting results or what action the state Board of Elections might take. Two statewide races, for superintendent of public instruction and agriculture commissioner, remained unresolved and too close to call Thursday.
In Carteret, the county was told by the manufacturer of the voting system that its units could store up to 10,500 votes, but the limit was actually 3,005 votes."

---

What makes this election so important is the needs of world peace and healing are not being met by the current administration. We have a half century of war as action and reaction. Please read - Rogue Superpower and take a stand for peace. It begins within each of us.

"But the truth is: from Hiroshima to Vietnam to Iraq, the United States of America has been the biggest and most ruthless perpetrator of bombings in the world."

Peace on earth to men of good will.

Stolen Election Again?

I feel there is a problem with this election. It stinks to high heaven. We can track a dollar down to the penny but we have been told we can't track a vote.

If the vote count starts at poll closing time plus when the last voter votes, how did the media begin to call numbers for entire states shortly after closing time? The machines could not have been open as fast as the networks were calling off numbers. Counting the votes, especially those who voted a week or so earlier, could not have been done in that short a time.

And what happened to the media's standard of not reporting election results until everyone in the country voted from Maine to California?

I live in Arizona. The Secretary of State’s office has posted “unofficial” election results on the web. According to the posting, nobody in the state of Arizona voted for Ralph Nader. Not one of the reported 40,000 votes cast for Nader came from Arizona?

I understand the gentleman’s agreement between two members of Skull & Bones not to fight over this, but we the people need to make sure our vote was counted. (I still love and appreciate John Kerry and his crew, but Kerry never did address the Skull & Bones conflict of interest).

We have until the Electoral College meets for folks to demand a verification of their vote. A simple citizens request from each voter that demands verification of their vote being counted.

Don't Deny...Verify .

If we don't pretend not to know (deny) there could be a problem here, we can fix it by each one verifying their vote. Simply ask to confirm that a citizen's vote is counted. It’s the only way to confirm that computer programming alterations were not pulled in some places to weigh the vote in favor of one candidate over another.

The will of the government has superseded the will of the people for too long. It’s clearly time to restore intelligence to government.

Let me know what you think.

It isn't over until the Electoral College sings.

How To Fix the Voting System

Why are we pretending not to know there is a problem with how we are counting votes, or not counting votes? We can count a dollar down to a fraction of a penny, but we can't count votes. I'm over 50. I can't be that stupid.

Here’s how to fix the voting system in America.

Use the current library system as polling places. They are already wired for the Internet. Have folks cast from secure connections from either their home computer (with digital id and password) or go to their local library where possible. If neither option is available to the voter, the town halls, etc. can be used.

For the election, disconnect the public machines from the internet and let them count votes with a real-time CD backup of the voting. No external access during voting other than between the voter and his/her voting file. Even if a machine goes down during the voting process, use another and the non-functioning one can be corrected after the election with sufficient witnesses.

Each vote can be printed out, like you print out an Excel spread sheet, one approved copy with the polling place, and one with the voter. The hard copy can have a machine number on it to help with any necessary recount based on citizen verification.

Once a machine is open for voting, no human access allowed until counting time. No external media or adjustments allowed in the machine.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.

I lived in NYC from the early 1970’s to the late 1990’s. In the early 90’s I was helping a friend, Al Davis, run for congress against Charles Rangel. Under Rangel’s rule, Harlem went into the pits, from a place of hope to one of deep despair. Crack and AIDS hit the community hard, cancers and a high infant mortality rate added to the depression. Harlem's political leadership kept the focus on music and hopelessness. “Live from the Apollo” rarely featured anyone from Harlem. The Empowerment Zone became known as the disempowerment zone, where funds were withheld and dreams destroyed by politicians who demanded entrepreneurs jump through a thousand hoops to be denied the money at the end of the process. They put it in the bank instead. Yet the same political management team was re-elected again and again. Still are. We use to joke how the dead outvoted the living every time.

Al Davis’s petition signatures were challenged by Congressman Rangel and valuable time Davis should have been spending campaigning was spent at the Board of Elections verifying signatures.

During that process the crew I was on found a lot of typographical errors in the voting registration computer. For example, a written card that the voter sent out for registration would read "Jim Lobe" and the computer operator would have mistakenly typed in "Jim Love." When Mr. Lobe went to the polls, his name would not be on the list and his vote not counted.

So I found out the qualifications for getting a job doing data entry at the Board of Elections.

1. Are you a member of a Democratic or Republican club?

2. Are you a member of a church with a Democratic or Republican Club?

3. Are you a registered voter?

The question that was missing was “can you type accurately for more than 5 minutes?” We found so many typographical errors on the BOE’s computers that they shut the system down and let our petitions through. I had suggested a "checker" but that idea was shot down faster than a falling star. I remember, being the drama queen that I am, reading the Declaration of Independence out loud just in case it might help. It didn't.

I was also a poll watcher in an election in Harlem. At the time I was a registered republican, from a family of Lincoln Republicans. (I am now a Kerry Democrat).

At that election, I was seeing two Democrats going into the voting booth with voters to “help them vote.” When I questioned the practice, I was told that there were no republicans in the house. I presented my voter registration card that showed I was. The police put me under house arrest (in the polls) and said I couldn’t talk with anyone since I was a registered poll watcher. I walked around my confined area first humming, then singing “we have overcome this day.” (My candidate, Carman Quinonnes, won.)

Since I broke no laws and was confined at the polling center, I was told that I don’t have a police record regarding the incident. Though I have been jacked by the police many times, I’ve never been arrested because every time I’ve been jacked, it’s not because I’ve broken any laws or was acting in an uncivilized way. Just Black in America, which is why I pay so much attention to this issue of voting.

In summary the way to fix the problems with voting is to move to stand alone, secure personal computers that are plugged into an intranet at the end of polling time, when votes are counted. We need to insure the integrity of the information we are using to run our lives by double checking the data entered into the Board of Elections computers. Citizens should verify how they voted with what is printed out on their receipt.

I've been an avid computer user since 1977 and I can assure you that the wise use of technology can provide us with a truth razor that can have a manual backup for revealing the Will of the People, peace, prosperity, safety, health, shelter, opportunity, education, 'and a great place to party.'

'We are overcoming now.'

How To Bridge The Digital Divide

DO IT NOW!!!

INTRODUCTION
WHY BUILD THE BRIDGE
CYBER CLUBS
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW?
HOW TO SUCCEED
RAILROAD TRACKS

GIVE THE GIFT OF COMPUTERIZATION
START A CYBER CLUB

(SET UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS CLUB)

AT YOUR BANK TODAY

INTRODUCTION

We have a problem to solve. Though we are clearly in the information age, we are still using industrial age thinking in solving our problems. For example, all this talk about jobs. NAFTA was passed and here in the United States, jobs are fewer and harder to find. However, in the Information Age, one can earn a living at home on line. All that is needed is a computer and the skills to complete the task. Regarding our health crisis, making more information on how to take care of oneself available in the style of Web MD, pressure could be reduced off the health care system, making available more resources to folks who really need it. Computers are really the keys out of Babylon where we can once again all speak the same language, web.

Albert Einstein explained it best in his 1938 "Message For Posterity." Our technology has exceeded our humanity, and now is the time to create balance. Everyone who wants to be computerized, should have a right to computerization.

Make no mistake about it. Second hand information in the information age is truly the new slavery. If you have to go to another for your daily data, by the time you get it, if you get it, it’s old news. Talk about second-class status.

Uncensored web access means no country can determine that their people cannot know the truth. Freedom of thought is the bounty for getting whoever wants to be on the information super highway on the road.

With computers and other forms of technology, we have in our hands the ability to create peace on earth as a result of better managing the world's assets...food to the hungry, clean water to the thirsty, housing for the homeless.

Q and A

Who is not on line yet?

The vast majority of the world's population is not yet computerized. Our greatest treasure may be found in the realm of the billions of unread voices yet to be on the web.

What is the digital divide?

The digital divide is the space in our society between the computerized and the non-computerized. The distance between the technology haves and have nots? We live in a world of technology haves and have-nots. Like A Tale Of Two Cities, failure to address the issues can result in creating a future resembling The Time Machine.

The digital divide is dangerous, yet can be made safe if we all just work together to build a bridge to cyber freedom.

When does the bridge need to be built?

Now.

Where to begin?

In our own communities, wherever we are. Those of us with the skills and the technology need to openly share information with those who don't have access. Begin with making sure those around you are computer literate and expand from there, i.e. through your place of worship, community centers, recreational groups (i.e. Bridge night where the games and cards are made on the computer.)

Why build a bridge to close the digital divide?

You never know where the next great solution is going to come from.

How to bridge the digital divide?

Simple.

Make sure everyone has computer access and the basic training to use the equipment.

How is that simple?

Make equipment and internet access available in all schools, libraries,

town halls, houses of worship, etc.

Computer companies know the value of creating customers by letting them train on their brands of hardware and software. Stress the sales times, Dr. Kings Birthday Weekend and July 4th weekend, generally the best times to buy equipment.

Set up computer clubs where folks can make contributions into one's technology fund rather than buy a $100 pair of sneakers.

In the information age, access to modern technology i.e. that which gives web access, is a part of civil rights.

We all have a right to be connected.

Since we never know who’s life experience will hold the key to solving the problems of disease, environmental destruction, economic empowerment, or our next really good laugh, we can’t afford to leave any soul behind who wants to participate in the Information Age Evolution.

The way to bridge the digital divide is to do something about it. When the problem is a lack of adequate computerization, the solution is simply to adequately computerize. Web conferencing, computer enriched literacy programs and organizational participation can dramatically help transform the digital divide into opportunities wide. One of the things that amazed me most during my years of training is the number of folks who can't really read. They may be able to sound out a few words, but wherever they went to school failed to teach them how to comprehend the images in front of them. We need to use computers to help folks learn how to read, do math and think.

The solution to the problem of how to bridge the digital divide involves access to both equipment and education. For example, internet access without the confidence and ability to effectively use the technology, is like having a microphone and not know how to turn it on or what to say.

The HOW TO COMPUTE training notes are posted

WHY BUILD THE BRIDGE?

The evidence is too precise to ignore any more. Maximizing cyber opportunities is critical to the success of any economy. Information on the web is already helping save lives, i.e. various on-line medical tests one can take to determine when it's time to see a doctor.

Many companies only have additional product information on the web. Some days, the best air fare is found the week before a flight on the web. Given modern homeland security issues, checking a product number against the FDA site for re-call information is a good thing.

I have a theory that during WWII enough people chose good over evil so that we were given the power of computers. The Enigma Machine, an early computer, was developed by the Allies and used to break Hitler’s code, thereby turning the tide of the war. The power of our modern Enigma Machines, computers, has changed the tide in many lives in no less a dramatic fashion. Folks are overcoming now.

The oldest referenced structure in the bible is the Tower of Bable. According to Genesis, during the time of Babylon’s ego, language was confounded. With computers and their language translation capabilities, people from all over the world can speak and be understood. A real chance at world peace based on communication.

Computerization is an empowerment tool on many levels, like the joy on the face of a young man in Harlem the first time he communicated with a soul from Japan about a mutual artistic passion. Or the peace of senior Miss. Ruth who was able to communicate with younger members of her family in another state through a computer, which translated into them becoming even closer. Or the accomplishment of a young father building stronger communications bridges with his six-year-old daughter during conversations they would have while together at the computer screen.

With computers, it no longer matters what one learned or did not learn in school. You can learn on line. The information, the commodity of kings, is available to all who know how to use a computer, the Internet and an assortment of educational tools.

As Anthony Robbins says in his book AWAKEN THE GIANT WITHIN…”I can’t overemphasize the power and value of gaining even one, single distinction – a sole piece of information – that can be used to change the course of your life. Information is power when it is acted upon, and one thing is that you never know when you’re going to get it.”

Illiteracy can become an ancient concept. In computer class, the most popular book is the dictionary, as anxious minds search for just the right spelling to get their questions answered.

Adequate computerization provides a way that national testing of school children can work. It gives students access to the same information at the same time. All 14 years of school can be available on the web, with interactive programs that test and teach. Any person who goes through a web-based education should be able to pass the national standards test. This is not difficult if we allow the needs of the students to hold greater weight than the needs of the unions and school officials.

The difference between a computerized and non-computerized life is like the difference between a Mercedes and a mule. Take insurance. Via the web, one can quickly gain access to tools that compare up to the second insurance rates offered by a multitude of companies. Without the web, one usually relies on whatever dated print or phone information is available.

Still, the best way to fight poverty is with a legal income. Anyone can be a salesman with Amazon, Yahoo Classifieds, ebay.com, and other on-line sales listing. Driving instructions, medical treatments, food information, breaking news, spirituality, sports, humor, art, it’s all there.

CYBER CLUBS

We've started with two basic types of cyber clubs. One is to encourage folks to systematically save money for computer purchases like one saves for Christmas season.

The second type is to gather a group of folks together and go computer shopping.

In the mid-90's when conducting ‘computer buying groups’, we had one

Radio Shack in Harlem, close to Columbia University, which had an extremely limited computer selection and programs were minimal. We ended up having to go down town. At the time I felt that they didn't want us down town either.

Access to technology is meaningless until we learn how to use it to empower our lives. The first step to bridge the digital divide though, is access.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW? COMPUTERIZE

Here are C.U.R.E.'s recommendations onhow to bridge the digital divide.

1. Encourage banks to set up “Cyber Clubs”, much like the old “Christmas Clubs” where people can make deposits into an account for future technology purchases. As an alternative to giving a child a doll or game for a gift, take that money and deposit it into the account. These clubs can make group purchases during July 4th and Dr. King’s Birthday weekends offering additional buying incentives based on volume discount buying. They can also keep people informed of the newest, latest and most effective equipment and programs to purchase. Financial management, i.e. “computer banking” computer user groups can be formed to use the technology to enrich the community.
2. Provide incentives for community organizations to offer free computer training to their membership. Teach the basics necessary to write letters, get on and use the web, balance a budget or record one’s family tree. Trainers can be available on line with e-mail correspondence.
3. Encourage business growth. With a computer, whatever one does best, they can do as a business. For example, if someone braids hair, show them how their computer can keep their books, appointments, send out customer mailings, encourage word of mouth, file taxes, etc. Sales development clubs, on the web and off, can also encourage economic growth. These clubs can reach beyond national borders. Also, auto responder book sales and other residual income sites can be established.
4. Hold more and targeted local, state and national and international “town meetings” on the web with elected and appointed officials answering questions and listening to solutions from constituents. Network ideas with resources and people to accomplish the mission of safe, effective computerization for all who want it.
5. Provide additional tax and financing incentives to open computer stores, training centers, wherever. It’s not just low-income people who need access and training. We all do. I still can’t believe the many times I heard “I never thought I would ever be able to use a computer,” or “I’ve never even touched a mouse.”
6. Encourage intelligent, cross cultural-religious-economic-racial-gender, etc. computer use. With computers we see the quality of one’s ideas before we see the body they are in or the lifestyle they live. The opportunity to build bridges is to great to ignore.
7. Encourage non-violent conflict resolution through a computer. It’s tough to use a computer and a gun at the same time. Also arguments over modems cause less violence.
8. Promote the joy of computing.
9. Ask computer companies to stop red-lining inner cities.

Consider reparations for the American people. It was American tax dollars that financed the creation and development of computers. Money that could have gone into family inheritance funds. Yet, this technology was not given freely to the people, but to business interests. The skinny is, since our grand parents, through their tax dollars, helped finance the creation and development of computers, where's our royalty checks? Investors should get a royalty too.

HOW TO SUCCEED

The systems for successfully bridging the digital divide are already in place. Community organizations, one-on-one at home sharing information, economic encouragement and technology already exist to expedite the process. With sponsorship opportunities for computer hardware, software and humanwear, the process can pay for itself via an empowered tax base.

Dr. Martin Luther King was right. In my experience, which began on computers in 1977 at ABC Radio’s WPLJ-FM, the table of brotherhood that Dr. King spoke of in his I HAVE A DREAM speech is a table with a computer on it, and good people around it, using the computer to solve problems and have a good time.
Just like Dr. King was a champion of civil rights, we must all become champions of cyber rights. Government, business, non-profits and individual intervention will not only close the digital divide, but where there was a hole in the ground, new opportunities will be found.

How does one champion cyber rights? If you know how to use a computer, find someone in your life that does not know and teach him or her. If you don’t know how to use a computer, find someone who does and ask them to teach you. Help your organizations and institutions become computerized too. If you can comfortably afford it, buy a computer for a family who doesn't have one. Everyone has something to contribute.

I personally recommend beginning with each individual saying their own prayers for divinely guided computerization.

Regarding the question can anybody learn computers, bring to mind the image of an illiterate person who has already learned how to read the screens and push the buttons on their ATM. We are limited only by our imaginations.
Finally, a message from Miss. Roxanna Dawson. The Railroad had issued a challenge to Harlem that I was actively looking for the first person we could not train how to use a PC. Since the cost of the training is that it be passed onto at least two other people, we could not back up the challenge with money, but thousands of the people came anyway over a four-year period.

Roxanna, at 92 years old, came and said she was that person we could not train. I asked her why and she said because she was blind. I asked her if she was totally blind or legally blind. I had read Huxley’s THE ART OF SEEING so I know the difference. I put Roxanna’s fingers on the home row keys and had her type her name. I made the type big and she jumped back from the screen and yelled, “I can see.” The people in the training room at Harlem's Minisink Townhouse went electric. She turned around and said with a smile of deep pride, “If I can do it, the rest of your have no excuse.”

For her second lesson, I sat her at a computer with a 26-year-old woman and they learned how to use a mouse together. In between practice and laughter, they talked about community issues at a level that’s helped me grow ever since. Healing can be found in networking.

In summary,since the cause of the problem is a lack of adequate computerization,the solution is simple – computerize.

It’s easier than it seems,and when done right,its rewards are tremendous.


RAILROAD TRACKS

Computer Underground Railroad Enterprises, (C.U.R.E. or the Railroad), has trained thousands how to use a computer,in the 1990's in the great community of Harlem, NY and elsewhere in the USA.

The cost of the training is that it be passed onto at least two other people.

The Computer Underground Railroad is just a continuation of the original freedom concept. The real lesson from the original Underground Railroad is that those who have freedom, have a responsibility to share that freedom with those who do not. Those of us who have computer literacy, must share that information with those who do not. Until that’s accomplished, we’re just a slave system in another form. When that is accomplished, everyone is free with the help of ‘a friend of a friend.’ Free to understand, grow, pray and prosper.

Back in the late ‘80’s Harlem’s great community service diva, Mother Clara Hale, told me that there was something going on with computers and I needed to come uptown to help people become computerized. I won’t repeat what she said about Harlem’s politicians on the issues. History speaks for itself. She was right.
For example, Hale House became famous for helping babies and their mothers with AIDS and crack addictions. In the 80’s I was told by Harlem’s leadership that AIDS was not a Black problem (like race should make a difference). They said the best way to handle AIDS was to not talk about it. They’d put another record on the radio, rather than have on Niro Markoff Asistent who’s book WHY I SURVIVE AIDS tells how she healed herself of HIV with ARC (aids related complex).

With computers, it becomes easy to learn what's really going on. In the 80's and 90’s, the politicians did little about the 5 open sewers that surround Harlem, the location of the majority of Manhattan’s bus depots in Harlem, the threat of the Hanta Virus or plague from the large rodent population, inadequate disaster relief programs or information available on how to deal with the dramas on hand.

People need to be able to interact with new technology. When I lived in mid-town Manhattan in the 80’s and early 90’s, I had many computer stores in walking distance of my apartments. When I went to Harlem in ’94, there was not one computer store…a place where you could “kick the tires”, try new technologies, and take a test drive of new software. Ride a train down the tracks.

When I left Harlem in ’98, despite pleas to elected and appointed officials, Harlem still did not have a computer super store. Not even all the time spent on the Empowerment Zone helped. Instead, I was told that most people had no interest in computers or that computers were of the devil. It turns out it wasn't the computers that were of the devil (ooooooooops).

The training notes updated from Word '97 to Word 2000 and 2003, were given to all who came to learn how to compute. I stopped counting at 3,000 people over a four-year period, 1994-1998. Though millions of dollars were raised for education during that time by others, the railroad accomplish what it did on donated loaned computers, training space and programs and a $10,000 grant from Columbia University and City College, plus whatever I earned and the hard work of all who participated. I was not invited to speak.

 
Happy Computing