"Another mysterious accident solves a Bush problem."

[Andy_Stephenson]

snip

The subject line on yesterday's email read: "Another mysterious accident solves a Bush problem. Athan Gibbs dead, Diebold lives." The attached news story

snip

Coincidence theorists will simply dismiss the death of Gibbs as a
tragic accident - the same conclusion these coincidence theorists
came to when anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood died in November
1974 when her car struck a concrete embankment en route to a meeting
with New York Times reporter David Burnham.

snip

Gibbs' death bears heightened scrutiny because of the way he lived
his life after the 2000 Florida election debacle. I interviewed
Athan Gibbs in January of this year. "I've been an accountant,
an auditor, for more than thirty years. Electronic voting machines
that don't supply a paper trail go against every principle of
accounting and auditing that's being taught in American business
schools," he insisted.


snip

My encounter with Gibbs led to a cover story in the Columbus Free
Press March-April issue, entitled, "Diebold, electronic voting and
the vast right-wing conspiracy." The thesis I advanced in the Free
Press article (http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/834)
is that some of the same right-wing individuals who backed the
CIA's covert actions and overthrowing of democratic
elections in the Third World in the 1980s are now involved in
privatized touch screen voting

snip

Gibbs' last words to me were "How do explain what happened to
Senator Max Cleland in Georgia. How do you explain that?
The Maryland study and the Johns Hopkins scientists have
warned us against 'blind faith voting.' These systems can
be hacked into. They found patches in Georgia and the people
servicing the machine had entered the machines during the
voting process. How can we the people accept this?
No more blind faith voting."

http://www.opednews.com/fitrakis031804_silkwood_evoting.htm

[KeepItReal]

1. Will his TruVote business stay afloat without him?

<EOM>

[Andy_Stephenson]

2. I hope so...

I truly do.

Athan was a good guy. He wore a white hat...he will be missed.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. Jung was right about synchronicity . . .

After reading this thread, and Bob Fitrakis's entire article, I checked my e-mail
and had received the paragraph below. It came from the Bruderhof, a Christian communal group that sends a daily message of an inspirational/ philosophical/ political nature.

Herd Mentality
Søren Kierkegaard

Christ was crucified because he would have nothing to do with the crowd (even though he addressed himself to all). He did not want to form a party, an interest group, a mass movement, but wanted to be what he was, the truth, which is related to the single individual. Therefore everyone who will genuinely serve the truth is by that very fact a martyr. To win a crowd is no art; for that only untruth is needed, nonsense, and a little knowledge of human passions. But no witness to the truth dares to get involved with the crowd.

Emphasis added by me. Now, how do I get the hair on the back of my neck to lie down? :scared:

[Andy_Stephenson]

5. I hear ya...

mine (hair on the back of my neck ) is doing the same thing.

[DemBones DemBones]

8. You and Bev need to be very careful.

Watch your back all the time. I don't subscribe to the "there's no such thing as an accident" school of thought, so I can accept that this could be an auto accident. But I also know about the reality of evil in the world and the dangers it can present.

Kudos for what you're doing!

[Andy_Stephenson]

11. I think we should both have body Guards at this point...

who knows :shrug:

[greatauntoftriplets]

12. Please be careful.

:scared:

[Andy_Stephenson]

17. I am always careful...

I am gonna buy a Gun...in fact I think I will get a concealed weapons permit too.

[greatauntoftriplets]

22. Do you know how to use a gun?

this :scared: me even more.

[Andy_Stephenson]

23. I do as a matter of fact.

Load...Aim...Squeeze the trigger...check to make sure the bandit is dead.

:evilgrin:

[greatauntoftriplets]

26. Have you been trained by the local police force...

...in safe weapons handling? People HAVE been known to shoot themselves or people close to them by accident.

[Andy_Stephenson]

31. I have been trained in the safe handling of a gun.

Remember...I grew up in texas.

[greatauntoftriplets]

35. How many years ago?

Take a refresher course. Be a good lad. Listen to "mother".

On edit: If you have a temperature, perhaps you have strep. See the doctor tomorrow.

[Andy_Stephenson]

36. The word mother for some reason...

reminds me of psycho...Mother...Mother...

:evilgrin:

[greatauntoftriplets]

37. I beg your pardon.

:evilfrown:

[mouse7]

25. If you buy a handgun, go to a range and learn to use it right

Lots of people claim they will learn to use a handgun properly. Most never do. A handgun only applies effective security if you are trained in it's proper use. Otherwise, you are just conveniently carrying around a weapon a thug can use on you after they take it from you.

[Cleita]

32. That has always been my position and why I never carried a weapon

even though it would have been easy for me to get a permit in a couple of my jobs for my safety. I found doing things in pairs was far more effective because criminals are hesitant to do stuff to you if there is a potential witness. Hit men I believe prefer to work alone for that reason so having another person around usually is a deterrent unless the person is a wacko nutcase like a suicide bomber in which case no gun will save you anyway.

[mouse7]

27. A big VISABLE holstered handgun provides better security.

You don't need a concealed weapons permit. If you have need for a handgun, the best place for it is openly holstered where everyone and their mother can see it. Deterence provides much better security than the gun itself does.

[greatauntoftriplets]

28. Or how about a sawed-off shotgun in plain sight?

I am being ironic, here.

[Stephanie]

3. His son says he will carry on the business

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He wanted every vote to matter; Athan Gibbs, Sr. dies in crash.

Mr. Gibbs was killed about 10:30 a.m. Friday in a car crash on Interstate 65 near Eighth Avenue North as he drove from his north Nashville home to his downtown office at Tennessee State University's Business Incubation Center.

Metro police said Mr. Gibbs lost control of his Chevy Blazer after he cut in front of an 18-wheeler and the two vehicles collided. The Blazer rolled several times in the southbound lanes, went over the retaining wall and came to rest on its roof on the northbound side. Gibbs was ejected, police said.

<more>

http://www.tennessean.com/obits/archives/04/03/48330576.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Athan Gibbs Sr.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Athan Gibbs Sr., an accountant who devoted himself to developing a better way to record and count votes after the 2000 presidential election, died Friday in a car crash. He was 57.

Troubled by problems in the 2000 election, Gibbs invented the TruVote system, which he said was designed to restore the public's confidence in the ability to get each and every vote counted.

<more>

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/8188988.htm?1c

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Death of a Patriot: No More 'Blind Faith Voting'
by Bob Fitrakis

The subject line on yesterday's email read: "Another mysterious accident solves a Bush problem. Athan Gibbs dead, Diebold lives." The attached news story briefly described the untimely Friday, March 12th death of perhaps America's most influential advocate of a verified voting paper trail in the era of touch screen computer voting. Gibbs, an accountant for more than 30 years and the inventor of the TruVote system, died when his vehicle collided with an 18-wheeled truck which rolled his Chevy Blazer several times and forced it over the highway retaining wall where it came to rest on its roof.

Coincidence theorists will simply dismiss the death of Gibbs as a tragic accident - the same conclusion these coincidence theorists came to when anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood died in November 1974 when her car struck a concrete embankment en route to a meeting with New York Times reporter David Burnham. Prominent independent investigators concluded that Silkwood's car was hit from behind and forced off the road. Silkwood was reportedly carrying documents that would expose illegal activities at the Kerr-McGee nuclear fuel plant. The FBI report found that she fell asleep at the wheel after overdosing on Quaaludes and that there never were any such files. A journalist secretly employed by the FBI, and a veteran of the Bureau's COINTELPRO operation against political activists, provided testimony for the FBI report.

Gibbs' death bears heightened scrutiny because of the way he lived his life after the 2000 Florida election debacle. I interviewed Athan Gibbs in January of this year. "I've been an accountant, an auditor, for more than thirty years. Electronic voting machines that don't supply a paper trail go against every principle of accounting and auditing that's being taught in American business schools," he insisted.

"These machines are set up to provide paper trails. No business in America would buy a machine that didn't provide a paper trail to audit and verify its transaction. Now, they want the people to purchase machines that you can't audit? It's absurd."

<more>

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0318-02.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[RandomKoolzip]

16. Oh, he was living in NASHVILLE?!

Having lived in Nashville for almost six years, I can assure everyone here that there'd be no shortage of tombstone-eyed fundies willing to snuff a man like Gibbs (for free) because he is interfering with "Gawd's" work, i.e. the Bush plan to bring about the "end times." The quicker the Rapture comes, the quicker 90% of Nashvillians will be subsumed into hebbin....They kill people who monitor the country music charts honestly there; why wouldn't they kill a man who wants to honestly monitor the voting machines?

I wouldn't doubt for a second that Gibbs's death wasn't an accident. Nashville is a very evil place.

[tobius]

6. yes, problem solved. no one else is advocating Gibb's position.

now that he is dead, the whole movement for an audited paper trail is down the tubes. very scary.

[Andy_Stephenson]

7. Never call it a paper trail.

Ballot will do.

[xchrom]

9. it doesn't die

the cat is out of the bag -- and that is his legacy. he could not ask for more.

[RedEagle]

14. Nothing is Down the Tubes Here

As much as I greatly admire Gibbs and what he was trying to do, he wasn't the only one, or even the most prominent one,trying to get states to buy voter verified paper ballot systems:

Accupoll
Avante
Vogue
Populex (ONLY IF they print a readable ballot, instead of number that has to be checked against a key)

Avante is certified in over 12 states, and that information is months old.

Then you have the Open Voting Consortium, working hard to catch up.

If Gibbs was making strides in Ohio, and he was trying to in Georgia, then he was a potential direct threat. He may have had more ability to gain ground because of his minority status, especially in Ohio.

Was his threat the fact he created a voter verified paper ballot system, that he was an ACCOUNTANT (who would really know) instead of a computer scientist or corporate entity, or that he could/might get huge minority support, thereby charging the movement to accountable voting in the minority community?

Many, many possibilites.

But, until/unless evidence is found that indicates some other kind of hanky panky, like a truck behind him forcing him into a maneuver he would not otherwise have contemplated, some type of complicity in the truck that he collided with, did he have a tire blow out, all you really have is an incident of bad judgement. You don't try to get a Blazer to move like a Civic or something more roadworthy in terms of maneuverability.

Were there witnesses to the accident? This will take investigation that is, unfortunately, sadly lacking in journalism these days.

But does the movement die? Not hardly.

[tobius]

19. forgot my (/sarcasm) tag.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

29. IMHO, I don't believe you intended to be sarcastic.

[Andy_Stephenson]

30. Mine either...n/t

[tobius]

38. well, if you don't believe it was sarcastic, i guess you believe the

implication of the original poster also? i was making fun of the idea that this was a "hit" designed to shut down an idea. A nationwide movement stopped in its tracks because of this one individual? The thinking behind that is completly ludicrous. I had never heard of this individual, and I'm sure the majority of the american citizens who like the idea of a print out verification for their vote haven't either.

[RedEagle]

40. Was your reply to #14 or the original post?

Since it indicates #14, read what I wrote again.

We're on the same plane. Nothing in the movement stops because of the sad events. Many more people involved with a much higher profile, other companies, plus, Tru Vote indicates they will carry on.

What the opposition doesn't need is to create a martyr on the voting issue.

That would be a VERY unproductive idea.

[tobius]

41. my response was to #14 which was a response to my post-#6

#6 was in response to original post, which I intended to be sarcastic. Ouch!- now I'm getting a headache.

[Andy_Stephenson]

42. You were never threatened by Diebold

either. No the movement will not stop...that is true. But his death hits close to home considering the work I have done.

[tobius]

46. you were? please elaborate. nt

[Andy_Stephenson]

47. You really should read Black Box Voting...

ballot tampering in the 21st Century.

Bob Urosevitch called me and told me to back off or I would "get a visit." Good thing I was recording the call.

I have it copies stored safely with many. So this whole thing has been disconcerting to me to say the least.

[Andy_Stephenson]

24. You really need to get up to speed on the issue...

there are others.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. He's a great American.

He shall be missed.

[dusty64]

13. Funny how these

"accidents" and "suicides" always seem to happen, isn't it.

[donsu]

15. another body for the Bush Body Count

www.bk2k.com/bushbodycount/index.shtml

[Andy_Stephenson]

18. indeed it is n/t

[AP]

20. I think I read that something like 4(?) or 20(?) people die every day in

the US in accidents in SUVs like this one.

The company will carry on.

I think think this is a bigger indictment of SUV safety than it is a story about Diebold carrying on with a competitor falling by the wayside.

Whether this guy lives or dies, Diebold is in trouble.

[Andy_Stephenson]

21. Really??? YOu think so???

I am glad one of us does. Diebold is like a timex watch these days. Takes a licking keeps on ticking. I wish I had your optimisim. But even if we destroy Diebold Sequoia or ES&S will fill the void...and they are no better.

[AP]

33. My bigger point: their rise or fall will not depend on this accident.

As I said, SUVs are incredibly dangerous and up to 20 people a day die in America in acciedents exactly like this one, and the continue will carry on despite this guy's death.

[Andy_Stephenson]

34. Your right of course...but I am running fever...feel

like crap and not overly optimistic at this point. Ignore me today.

[tobius]

39. oh, ok. nt

[Logansquare]

48. There's a lot of talk on the Diebold message board over at Yahoo

that company morale is in the pits, and that Waldon is engaging in some funny accounting, so perhaps not all is really as well as they want you to think. There have been some layoffs, although that may be in order to outsource (our votes!) to India.

http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&board=4687614&tid=dbd&sid=4687614&mid=8063
If I had this stock, I'd get rid of it.

[Robbien]

43. Has this already been posted---Time front cover story on digital voting

the pre-release blurb says this

Also in the cover package, Levy reports that in recent months, computer scientists and security experts have found weaknesses in the sleek electronic touch-screen voting terminals officials hoped would be the answer to voting technology problems highlighted in the 2000 presidential election. The devices, made by major election suppliers like Diebold and Sequoia, are in 30 states (the only way to vote in Georgia and Maryland), and will be used by about 28 percent of the country in the November elections. But many claim that it's entirely possible to hack an election without anyone's knowing it. A new set of players in the election arena-computer scientists and cryptographers-are now developing systems to let people know that their votes have actually counted.

The title says The Future of Digital Voting
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SVBIZINK2.story&STORY=/www/story/03-21-2004/0002131725&EDATE=SUN+Mar+21+2004,+12:04+PM

Also, please keep yourself safe Andy.

[Andy_Stephenson]

44. I will try to stay safe...

Today I am just trying to get well. I have a cold or flu...feel like crap.

Pissin n moaning here.

[jus_the_facts]

45. as I clicked this link..the song on my headphones is The Flame~Cheap Trick

....."...I'm goin' crazy...losin' sleep..I'm in too far I'm in way too deep over you....I can't believe your gone...you were the first you'll be the last...where ever you go...I'll be with you!" RIP Mr. Gibbs :cry: :cry: :cry: