Reply #34: Yes. Sandbox.

[BevHarris]

We are talking about people who are all bluster and no delivery.

David Allen -- if he is honest, here you go: David, post your sales reports (the ones I haven't gotten nor has the board of directors for Black Box Voting). Post 'em anywhere. Show us your sales.

Post the payments you have made to me and/or the nonprofit.

Folks, this guy talks a good game and sobs a sad story. But he never typeset the book (I did); he didn't send it to print (until I sent my own version to print, forcing his hand); he didn't fulfill his Amazon.com orders, and after I'd done the PR for seven articles in the New York Times, a Time Magazine article, and much more, to get public awareness of the issue, he sold only 18 books on Amazon -- not because there were no orders, but because he did not fulfill.

He sent no sales reports (required in the contract every month) for three months -- after receiving a demand letter from my attorney, he sent one set of reports, which proved to be erroneous, and omitted two out of every three people from Democratic Underground who were kind enough to let me know they'd bought from him.

He sent no royalty checks (required by the contract).

To date the only accounting from David Allen has been Jan-Feb-Mar (and only after a lawyer's demand). We still do not have April, May, June or July. Since I turned all revenues over to the nonprofit, which I do not control, he is cheating the nonprofit, not me.

I think the board would agree that we would be delighted to have David Allen publicly post his sales reports for Black Box Voting -- anywhere. He's been pocketing the money, folks. We have yet to receive a single monthly royalty check (required by the contract) and it has now been SEVEN MONTHS.

David Allen did not write three chapters. He wrote 11 pages of a 256 page book. Part of that I did not want (the "David Allen" solution") but he threw a tantrum when I told him that, so to keep the peace, I left the dumb thing in. I'd be delighted to eliminate it.

He did not typeset the book. That is the publisher's job. It can't go to print until it is typeset. I had to do that. He never reimbursed me.

He did not print the book in a timely manner. Finally, I borrowed money and printed my own version, and then he printed his book.

He did not distribute the book. It takes 48 hours to list it on Amazon.com but he took 3 months. Then, when he got Amazon orders, he did not fulfill them. After four months, he had fulfilled only 18 books on Amazon.com (I have screen shots of the Amazon report of delinquency).

He did not send any accounting of his sales.

When he received a letter from my lawyer, he omitted a large percentage of his sales on his report.

He still did not pay.

I turned his revenues over to the nonprofit and he still has not sent any accounting or payment to the board.

As for the Qui Tam: Reading comprehension is a good thing, folks.

We had the opportunity, thanks to brilliant lawyering by Lowell Finley, to file for restitution on behalf of the California taxpayers. IF it prevails an extra bonus will fund the nonprofit organization, which I do not control.

I refused to keep the information in the case secret. We do know that other Qui Tams have been filed, and we do know that other activists suddenly went silent, and we do know that because of a number of things, including the lawyers notes from Diebold's own attorneys, which reference legal actions in Texas, Florida, Georgia and elsewhere.

Hell yes, I'll take a crap shoot and fund a nonprofit with the proceeds. Diebold has to FIRST reimburse the taxpayer and then pay a bounty, and for those who read the press release, it said that if we prevail it WILL fund the nonprofit.

I do not control the nonprofit. I do not receive the funds. The nonprofit has a very lean infrastructure and applies its revenues towards direct action.

Now, as to all those allegations that I accused "Lynn Landes" and "Rebecca Mercuri" "Denis Wright" etc of Qui Tam -- show me. Show anyone. YOu can't back that up. It's bullshit, as much of the "sandbox" was. Never happened. Go pull that stuff, if you claim it happened. Show me a quote that accuses any of the above or shut up.

What we have here is a publisher who doesn't send sales reports, desperately wants people to believe he is a key researcher, stuffs his pockets with the proceeds, then whines about it when his failure to pay is exposed. We then have a couple activists who were unable to produce results in Georgia fussing because I did get results.

Let me tell you who is instrumental: Andy Stephenson.

Where is David Allen's research? Nowhere.

Andy and I have broken story after story, and somehow, not a damn thing came from David Allen after I got fed up and left the guy. Look at results, not words.

Andy and I spent a grand total of nine hours in Georgia and interviewed a key Diebold employee who described the specifics of the kickbacks and the slush fund accounting, and the contract manueverings. And we got a strange specific payment of $144,000 to the Georgia lottery.

Nine hours. Please, tell me what has been exposed (publicly) in NINE MONTHS by some of the people who are complaining the loudest.

I am not going to waste my time going into the archives, but anyone who does will find that my position has been consistent from the get-go: I find Qui Tam to be abhorrent if people gag the evidence because it is a way for corporations to bribe people into silence. Anyone -- in any state, not just California -- can file a Qui Tam and refuse to gag. Why don't they? Why do they accept the gag order, even though it is contrary to public interest? Because they want to maximize their chances of recovery. Whether or not they gag, the taxpayer still recovers.

My attorney, Lowell Finley, found a way to do this without the gag. This is a bonus to whistleblowers everywhere. I chose, though I sure didn't have to, to donate any proceeds from the Qui Tam to the nonprofit, which I DO NOT CONTROL.

So what we have in a nutshell:

1) Allegations that I have "made accusations" that no one has substantiated. Find them. Show me these. I keep seeing these bizarre lists of names. People are making things up. I can't get away with that in my research, and I won't tolerate it here. Put up or shut up. You can't, because it's bullshit.

2) A former publisher who claims he wrote parts of the book that he didn't, who doesn't comply with his contract, doesn't send sales reports, has not sent a single monthly royalty check, and keeps pretending he did all this stuff he never did. If he's so great, WHERE IS HIS CURRENT RESEARCH? IN 10 days Andy and I have produced more than he did in two years. What's he bellyaching about? By my calculations he's made $50,000 out of the book. David Allen: Give an accounting of your payments (hah!). Show what I, the author and the real researcher made (2,000) vs what you made. It's a joke and frankly, disgusting.

3) You've got a bunch of people who distort the facts. I'm not spending two minutes more on this.

For those of you who actually read the sandbox, and stood up for me, I am so very grateful.

I'm not apologizing for some mythical statements that I never made. I'm not apologizing for making (true) statements about indications of Qui Tam in Texas and elsewhere, where people accepted gag orders in conflict with public interest merely to maximize personal gain. I'm not apologizing for taking a crapshoot -- which is all it is -- in order to fund a consumer protection agency that is already kicking ass.

Okay. End of rant. We've got an issue that brings out the best in people, and we will win this fight. I will respond to any specific questions privately, but some of the public posts here are pure bullshit, and those who are inciting this mess know that full well.

By the way, Hunter -- I believe you were saying that YOU (or your associates) found the Diebold files and that you somehow set them there for me to find. What the hell is that?

Keep an open mind, folks. I am working the issue until after the election is over. It makes no sense for me to waste a month going to North Carolina to sue David Allen, nor does it make any sense to waste two minutes calculating some hypothetical amount I MIGHT earn on a Qui Tam. I threw the hat in the ring. It would be simply dumb not to do so. But there is no way the Qui Tam is going to help in the upcoming election, so I'm ignoring it altogether right now.

Who's out there doing stuff RIGHT NOW and who's sitting there yapping? That should give you all the answers you need.

Keep the faith.

Bev