****************************************************************************** Please visit the controversial LIBERTY LIBRARY BOOKSTORE ONLINE! The store now has the full Liberty Library catalog and a shopping cart system! http://www.spotlight.org/store/commerce.cgi? ****************************************************************************** In this issue: Liberty Lobby Visits Voter News Service Anti-Globalization Protests Rock World FEC Proclaims Buchanan Reform Party Nominee Liberty Lobby Visits Voter News Service Liberty Lobby dropped by the corporation in New York City that counts your votes during elections. What we found was terribly strange. By The SPOTLIGHT Staff It is urgent for Americans to become involved in the upcoming election and vote-count as poll watchers, election judges, observers and reporters at every level and in every state to prevent massive vote fraud. Citizens for a Fair Vote Count plans to conduct an independent tally of the election results based on reports provided by patriotic Americans from across the country in order to challenge the monopoly held by the major media networks on the national vote-counting process. Despite the widespread belief that the government supervises the tally of the results on election night, the reality is entirely different: The vote is tallied by a little-known private corporation called Voter News Service (VNS), located in New York City. Created in 1970 as News Election Service (NES), VNS has existed in near total secrecy for 30 years and may well be the most powerful corporation in the world. VNS is a creature of the major networks, including Fox and CNN, the wire services, The New York Times and The Washington Post. �The networks have total control of the vote-counting process in this country� is how James and Kenneth Collier des cribed the power of VNS in Votescam: The Stealing of America.* VNS is run by Bill Headline, executive director, and a board of managers, which is comprised of a representative from each of the six major networks: Carolyn Smith from ABC; Tom Jory from AP; Kathy Frankovic from CBS; Tom Hannon from CNN; and Sheldon Gawiser from NBC. Robert Zimmerman of Fox News re fused to provide the name of the Fox representative. Liberty Lobby�s legislative liaison Christopher Bollyn recently visited the office of VNS in New York City and al though Bill Headline was unwilling to be interviewed, Bollyn spoke with Lee C. Shapiro, director of media services. When Bollyn asked Shapiro about allegations that VNS has co-opted the vote-counting process in America, Shapiro insisted that the results they disseminate are �unofficial.� �The office was surprisingly messy and unprofessional,� Bollyn said. �There is a troubling atmosphere of secrecy and I wouldn�t trust any data that these people provide.� When Bollyn asked Shapiro if she thought that the networks should be involved in counting the vote, she said that �there is no federal law mandating how votes are to be counted.� A VNS brochure provided by Shapiro states �Voter News Service is the only national news organization charged with tabulating election-night voting results.� The vote results are tabulated in each county, mainly by computer, and then transferred to VNS where they are tabulated in secret and disseminated to the public, which accepts them without question. When Bollyn asked Tom Hannon, CNN representative at VNS, about the possibility of the election results being altered within the computer, by the internal computer code, which is secret, or by external �hacking,� Hannon replied that he was �way off.� Hannon said that VNS does not �count the vote� but went on to say �I am confident that it is an accurate vote count. It reflects what we are being told by state and local officials.� However, computer tabulated votes at any level, precinct, county or state leave no paper trail�they cannot be recounted or verified. Only the person who wrote the program to count votes in each state knows if the results are fair or if fraud has been committed. The process is neither transparent nor verifiable. The software is not open to public scrutiny. Neither is VNS. The brochure goes on to say �VNS is a member of the National Council of Public Polls (NCPP) and adheres to its standards.� However, when The SPOTLIGHT called the phone number for NCPP provided by Shapiro to ask about the standards, the phone was answered by the office of the Andrew Kohut at the Pew Trust. Kohut�s secretary told The SPOTLIGHT that NCPP �doesn�t really exist anywhere� but that it has a web site, (www.ncpp.org). >From the web site all inquiries about NCPP are directed to Edward J. Efchak at (201) 646-4379, vice president of marketing and research at The Record, a newspaper in Hackensack, N.J. When Efchak�s office was called, the secretary said that she had never heard of NCPP. Deputized The West Virginia Reform Party, by unanimous vote of the executive committee, has declared Citizens for a Fair Vote Count, an election watchdog group, a standing political committee so members can receive credentials as official ob servers at all precincts on election day. The executive committee�s resolution will be presented to the general membership for approval during a statewide meeting Sept. 30 at the Mid-Mountain Con ference Center at Flatwood. Once approved, as party leaders ex pect, volunteers will begin receiving credentials to be present Nov. 7 for the counting of all ballots in West Virginia. The West Virginia Reform Party is calling for use of paper ballots in all precincts to overcome fraud, citing the book Votescam by Jim and Ken Collier and Citizens for a Fair Vote Count, based in Cincinnati. * Votescam: the Stealing of America (softcover, 404 pages, $14, item No. 216A) can be ordered from Liberty Library at 300 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. For more on election fraud see the ad on page 13 about The SPOTLIGHT Votescam special report. Anti-Globalization Protests Rock World Those whose only source of news is the mainstream Establishment media are missing reports of massive protests against the Masters of the Global Plantation. By William Carmichael If the would-be masters of the Global Plantation have their way, millions of Americans will be unaware that globalization meetings elsewhere in the world are running into resistance from anti-internationalists and patriots. For instance, hundreds of protesters clashed with police at the World Eco nomic Forum in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday, Sept. 11, just days from the opening of the Olympics in that country. Five people were reportedly hurt and 200 delegates were prevented from atten ding the summit. Meanwhile, according to foreign press reports, in the Czech Republic, authorities are �transforming the historic center of Prague into an armed camp� prior to a planned meeting of the International Mo netary Fund and World Bank (IMF/WB). At one stage of the demonstrations in Melbourne, baton-wielding police charg ed at a group of protesters who were surrounding a car carrying Richard Court, premier of the Australian province of Western Australia. He was trapped in side for 40 minutes as the mob pounded on his car, slashed his tires and sprayed it with paint. The activists waved banners accusing those attending the three-day (Sept. 11-13) summit of pursuing �Corporate Greed, Not Global Justice.� Australian Prime Minister John Howard told the summit, which is debating world trade: �It is crucial to address the flagrant imbalance in international trade rules that favor most of the world�s richest countries, including the U.S. and the EU [European Union], against efficient agricultural exporters, including Australia.� Meanwhile, in Prague, there are fears of widespread violence as an expected 50,000 protesters try to disrupt the IMF/WB meeting from Sept. 18-26. Foreign press reports indicate the security operation will be the biggest since the Prague Spring of Premier Alexander Dubcek in 1968, which was crushed by Warsaw Pact forces. Re por tedly, 11,000 policemen will be deployed, with 5,000 army troops on standby. According to the Czech Embassy in London, the British and American governments have warned citizens not to travel to the city, except on essential business. Reporters on the scene say the winding streets and hidden courtyards of Prague�which draw millions of tourists every year�present a policing nightmare. The Telegraph of London reported that senior Scotland Yard officers and FBI agents have visited the city to advise Czech police on tactics and to identify �known trouble-makers.� Foreign governments reportedly have fears about the competence of the Czech police force, which has a poor record with demonstrations. Much smaller past protests have caused chaos in the city, with accusations that police either stood by or overreacted. Czech authorities have announced a radical package of measures aimed at thwarting the protesters, including specially trained anti-riot units that have spent weeks practicing at a former Soviet base. They will be equipped with riot shields, dogs and water-cannons. The army has made trucks, armored cars and helicopters available to the police, with 200 drivers, pilots and me chanics. Zones where the 12,000 delegates will live and meet will be closed off to the public. Meanwhile, anti-globalization groups, some of whom have had activists in Prague for weeks preparing for the de monstrations, have promised that there will be thousands of protesters in Prague and plan to lock delegates into their conference hall. The event, called S23 by some groups, already has dozens of web sites devoted to it. Anti-globalization groups in Prague have provided accommodation and mo bile phones. FEC Proclaims Buchanan Reform Party Nominee Pat Buchanan is the Reform Party�s presidential candidate and is entitled to $12.6 million in campaign funds, the Federal Election Commission ruled. Exclusive to The SPOTLIGHT By James P. Tucker Jr. Dragged kicking and screaming into reaching a decision, the Federal Election Commission finally stated the obvious: Pat Buchanan is the Reform Party presidential nominee and is entitled to $12.6 million in campaign funds. Further emphasizing the point, the FEC voted unanimously that John Ha gelin is not the party�s nominee. Hagelin said he will appeal the decision in federal court, which will briefly delay the disbursement of funds to the Buchanan campaign. The FEC decision came at the conclusion of a three-hour public hearing on Sept. 12, where members displayed concern about how further delays would be viewed by the public. The SPOTLIGHT reported in the Sept. 18 issue suspicion that the FEC was deliberately delaying action to keep the funds from Buchanan until as late as possible in the campaign and had discussed the matter with the FEC staff. The six-man commission is composed of three Democrats and three Repub licans, with no new-party representation. Commissioner Karl Sandstrom (D) urged the commission to take no action and toss the issue into federal court. Failing that, he tried unsuccessfully to get the commission to further delay its decision. Sandstrom was the only dissenter when the commission voted 5-1 to declare Buchanan the Reform nominee. The second vote, to declare Hagelin not the nominee, was a unanimous 5-0 because Sandstrom had left. �It is incumbent upon us to make a decision, � said Danny Lee McDonald (D), vice chairman. �It is our responsibility.� Even if the FEC chose to duck the issue and send the matter to federal court�where it will go on appeal anyway�the court would promptly toss it back and tell the FEC to do its job, he said. It would be an �abdication of our responsibility� to make no decision and send the matter directly to federal court, said David Mason (R). �No court will take this unless we make a decision,� said Lawrence Noble, FEC general counsel. Chairman Darryl Wold (R) said he ag reed the FEC must make a decision and that Buchanan is the nominee. Bradley Smith (R) said Hagelin �cannot claim that the Natural Law Party and Reform Party are the same and has not met the 10-state criteria.� To qualify under FEC rules, a candidate must be on the ballot in at least 10 states under his party�s banner. Hagelin wanted to count the states where he is on the ballot as Natural Law Party nominee in qualifying as the Reform nominee. �The Natural Law Party had a convention at the end of August and it is too late for two parties to come in and say �we are the one and the same,� � Mason said. McDonald asked the FEC staff what is the �best-case scenario� for Hagelin to meet the 10-state criteria. The best Hagelin could possibly do, the staff said, was to qualify in eight states. Smith, who believes there should be no FEC or public funding of political campaigns, had his nomination to the panel held up for months by President Clinton because of his views. Normally, each party names its members and the selection is promptly rubber-stamped. Hagelin �showed no fraud� in his petitions to the commission, Smith said, �only that he disagrees with what the convention did� in nominating Buchanan. Hagelin kept a �prior pledge� to walk out of the Reform Party convention if Bu chanan was nominated, Smith said and �Buchanan was nominated by convention� and is �quite clearly� the nominee. He dismissed Hagelin�s petty complaints, saying the FEC has no role in correcting �parliamentary errors.� Having clearly lost in his effort to get the matter sent to federal court without FEC action, Sandstrom pushed for a further delay on deciding who is the Reform Party nominee. �There was an election held but we do not know who won,� said Sandstrom of the Reform Party convention. He wanted the commission to consider petitions from two individuals challenging Buchanan�s nomination. Mason asked Sandstrom directly: �How do we know who the Republican Party nominated? If someone challenged [the nomination of George W. Bush] would we be required to consider it?� �Every day we wait is going to deprive that person of the money to campaign,� said Scott Thomas (D). �I think we ought to get going and make a decision today.� �Time is running,� Wold said before the two votes were taken. In its formal finding, the FEC said the Buchanan campaign had submitted documentation showing that it is �qualified to appear on numerous general election ballots� as the Reform Party candidate and �meets� the criteria. In formally finding Hagelin not the nominee, the commission said �the Na tural Law Party and Reform Party are two distinct and separate political parties� and both cannot be counted in reaching the 10-state requirement. However, in states such as Michigan, which has kept Buchanan off the ballot, the commission indicated it would not intervene. �The commission should not substitute its own judgment for that of a state with regard to who should appear on a state ballot as a party nominee,� the commission said in its formal finding for Buchanan. An appeals court has rejected an effort by the �Buchanan Brigade� to get him on the Michigan ballot and the issue is headed to the Supreme Court. Buchanan won 35 percent of the 1996 primary vote in Michigan. *************************************************************************** ADVERTISMENT STANFORD COINS AND BULLION (J&S) 1-800-627-3015 FREE Monthly Newsletter - Complete Price List GOLD - SILVER - PLATNUM *************************************************************************** ADVERTISEMENT HOW TO STAY OUT OF THE HOSPITAL! 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